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THE PRESIDENCY OF MEXICO. 



PROTEST 

OF 

GEIERAL JESUS GOIZALES ORTEGA, 

AGAINST THE 

DECREES OF SENOR BEMTO JUAREZ, 

ISSUED NOVEMBER 8th, 1855, 
AND HIS 

ADDRESS TO THE MEXICAN NATION, 

TO WHICH ARE APPENDED 

LETTERS IN RATIFICATION OF HIS POSITION. 






PROM RUSSELL'S AMERICAN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE PRESSES, 
28, 30 AND 32 Centee Stbeet. 




1866. 



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TIE PRESIDENCY OF MEXICO. 

PROTEST 

OF 

GENERAL JESUS GOIZALES ORTEGA, 

AGAINST THE 

DECREES OF SENOE BEOTTO JUAEEZ, 

ISSUED NOVEMBER 8th, 1855, 



AND HIS 



ADDRESS TO THE MEXICAN NATION, 



TO WHICH AEE APPENDED 




LETTERS IN RATIFICATION OF HIS POSITION. 

FROM RUSSELL'S AMERICAN STEAM PRINTING HOUSE PRESSES, 
28, 30 AND 32 Centre Stbeet. 

1866. 



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DECREES OF BENITO JUAREZ. 



MlNISTBT OF I 

EXTEENAL KELATIONS \ 

AND ' 

GOVERNMENT. ■ 



DEPARTMENT OP GOVERNMENT— Section 1. 

The Citizen President of the Republic has seen fit to issue the 
following decree : 

Benito Juarez, Constitutional President of the United States 
of Mexico, to the inhabitants thereof. Be it known : 

That in exercise of the plenary powers conferred upon me by 
the National Congress, through its decrees of December 11th, 
1861 ; of May 3d, and of October 27th, 1863 ; and whereas, 

Firstly.— In articles 78, 79, 80 and 82 of the Federal Consti- 
tution, treating of the period of the functions of the President of 
the Republic, and of the manner of his substitution, provision 
has been made for a new election of a President, but which, 
in fact, has not been verified, inasmuch as said provision did not 
anticipate existence of a state of war, such as the present ; and, 
moreover, as the enemy, at the present moment, occupies a 
great portion of the National Territory, it is impossible for a 
general election to be constitutionally held at the ordinary 
periods. 

Secondly.— That in those articles of the Constitution, pro- 
viding for a substitute for the President of the Republic in the 



event of a vacancy, it was provided to confide the executive 
power of the Presidency to the President of the Supreme Court 
of Justice, to act in the only case foreseen, during the interim, 
until a new election could be had according to the Constitution. 

Thirdly. — Inasmuch as it is impossible for an election to be 
held on account of the war, and as the President of the Supreme 
Court, were he to enter upon exercise of the functions of the 
executive office, would do so for an indefinite period of time, it 
becomes necessary to extend his powers beyond the limit pre- 
scribed by a literal construction of the Constitution. 

Fourthly.— That by the supreme law of necessity for the 
conservation of the government, the prolongation of the term of 
oflfi.ce of the President, and "of his substitute, would be more 
conformable to the spirit of the Constitution, inasmuch as it 
would avoid possibility of the G-overnment being without a head, 
or the creation of rival functionaries, operating one in the 
absence of the other ; and, moreover, because, conformably to 
the popular vote, the President of the Republic was elected, 
primarily and directly, to exercise the functions of the executive, 
while the President of the Supreme Court was elected, primarily 
and directly, to exercise judicial functions, those of the execu- 
tive being entrusted to him, secondarily and ad interim, in the 
case of absolute necessity. 

Fifthly.' — And considering that the present case is not pro- 
vided for in the Constitution, and the interpretation of the pro- 
visions and spirit of the Constitution belongs exclusively to the 
legislative power, and that the law of December 11th, 1861, 
confirmed by repeated votes of confidence by the National Con- 
gress, has invested the President with power, not subjected to 
ordinary Constitutional rules, by which he possesses plenary 
power to do and perform all acts which he may judge proper 
during existing circumstances, unrestricted save as to the salva- 
tion of the independence and integrity of the national territory, 
of the form of government established by the Constitution, and 
of the principles and laws of reform : 



5 

It lias pleased me to decree as follows : 

Art. I. — In the present condition of the war, it becomes neces- 
sary to extend, and are hereby extended, the functions of the 
President of the Eepublic, beyond the time ordinarily limited by 
the Constitution, until such a period at which the executive 
government can be turned over to a president, duly elected at 
an election, which shall be held whenever the condition of the 
war shall admit of its being held constitutionally. 

Art. II. — For a like reason it becomes necessary to extend, 
and are hereby extended, the functions of the person who holds 
the position of President of the Supreme Court of Justice, be- 
yond the time ordinarily limited by the Constitution, in order 
that, should a vacancy occur in the Presidency of the Eepublic, 
he may be enabled to fill it as substitute. 

For all of which I order this to be printed, published and 
circulated, that force be given the same. 

Given at El Paso del Norte this eighth day of November, in 
the year 1865. 

BENITO JUAEEZ. 

To THE Citizen Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. 



f MlNISTBT OF 

I EXTEBNAL BELATIONS 

$ AND 

5 GOVEBNMENT. 



DEPARTMENT OP G-OVBRNMBNT— Section I. 

The Citizen President of the Eepublic has seen fit to issue the 
following decree : 



6 

Benito Juarez, Constitutional President of tlie United States 
of Mexico, to the inhabitants thereof. Be it known : 

That in exercise of the plenary powers conferred upon me by 
the National Congress, through its decrees of December 11th, 
1861; of May 3d, and of October 27th, 1862, and of May 27th, 
1863, and whereas : 

Firstly. — The Citizen General, Jesus G. Ortega, thought 
proper, in July of the year 1863, to assume the oiSce of Gover- 
nor of the State of Zacatecas, and abandoned, in San Luis Potosi, 
the ofi&ce of Constitutional President of the Supreme Court of 
Justice. 

Secondly. — For this reason, following the precedent of Con- 
gress, whicli, owing to the vacancy in the Constitutional Presi- 
dency of the Court, had created provisionally a President of the 
Court, the Governioent, at the city of Chihuahua, under date of 
November 30th, 1864, declared that it was necessary that the 
Citizen General, Ortega, should continue in his capacity as Pre- 
sident of the Supreme Court of Justice. 

Thirdly. — The object literally expressed in that resolution 
was to avoid possibility of the Government being without a 
head, and gave to the Citizen General, Ortega, a definite and 
recognized title, so that, in the case of a vacancy in the Presi- 
dency of the Republic, he could enter upon its duties as sub- 
stitute. 

Fourthly. — Not being contrary to this motive, as he could 
fulfil his duties in any part of the Republic, Government con- 
ceded to General Ortega, on the 30th of December, 1864, a 
license, which he prayed for on the 28th, to proceed and bear 
arms in the cause of Independence within the interior of the 
Republic, with the privilege exjoressed in the license, according 
to his solicitation, as well as going direct through Mexican terri- 
tory, as of passing in transitu through a foreign land. 



Fifthly. — General Ortega departed accordingly, and, never- 
theless, despite the express tenor of his license, and, in. the place 
of passing in transitu, has resided permanently in a foreign 
country, without license or permission so to do, and in this wise 
abandoned his office of President of the Supreme Court of 
Justice, under the grave circumstances of an actual state of war, 
at a time when serious casualties have happened, and still may 
happen, by some of which the Government may suffer the in- 
convenience of being without a head ; yet, in expectation of his 
return, it was not deemed advisable to name another President 
of the Court, who, in the event of a vacancy in the Presidency 
of the Eepublic, might assume its functions as substitute. 

Sixthly.— In addition to responsibility, incurred through 
official vacation of his post as President of the Court, he has 
likewise violated the rules of good order, inasmuch as, holding a 
position as General, he has gone to reside permanently in a 
foreign country, during continuance of a state of war, and 
thereby abandoned the cause of the Eepublic, its standard and 
army. 

Eighthly. — Considering that the Government can, and ought, 
to declare this responsibility, with the power and ample func- 
tions delegated to it by Congress, not in opposition to, by apply- 
ing a just remedy in necessary cases, according to the provisions 
of the Constitution with regard to public functionaries — 

I decree as follows : 

Aet. P — The Citizen General, Jesus Gonzales Ortega, inas- 
much as from his having taken up a permanent residence in a 
foreign land during a continuance of actual hostilities, without 
license or commission from the Government, has rendered him- 
self responsible to a charge of official dereliction, in voluntarily 
abandoning his office as President of the Supreme Court of 
Justice ; that, when he presents himself upon the soil of the 
Eepublic, the Government will make such dispositions as will 
establish his guiltiness. 



8 

Aet. II. — The Government, employing the plenary powers 
delegated by Congress, and applying Article 104 of the Consti- 
tion, declares that cause exists to proceed against the Citizen, 
Jesus Gonzales Ortega, and that, when he presents himself upon 
the soil of the Eepublic, a judicial inquisition will be had against 
him for a crime against good order, for that, while holding the 
position of a general in the army, he has resided permanently 
and voluntarily in a foreign land, during continuance of hos- 
tilities, without license from the government, thereby abandoning 
the army, its standards and the cause of the Republic. 

Akt. III. — Conformably to precedent, established by Congress, 
the Government, in exercise of its plenary powers, will nominate 
a President of the Supreme Court of Justice to serve as a sub- 
stitute to the President, should a vacancy occur, prior to the time 
when the office shall be turned over to his successor, constitu- 
tionally elected^Nas soon as the state of the war will permit an 
election to be held. 

For all of which I order this to be printed, published and 
circulated, that force be given the same. 

Given at El Paso del Norte this Eighth day of November, in 
the year 1865. 

BENITO JUAEEZ. 

To THE Citizen Sebastian Leedo de Tejada. 



PROTEST OF THE CITIZEN, JESUS G. ORTEGA, 

PRESIDENT OP THE SUPREME COURT OP JUSTICE OP THE MEXICAN 
REPUBLIC, AQAINST THE DECREES ISSUED BY DON BENITO 
JUAREZ, ON THE 8th DAY OP NOVEMBER, 1865. 

The impolitic and disgraceful act, consummated by Don 
Benito Juarez, in issuing, through your official hands, the decrees 
of the 8th of November last past, has placed me in the painful 
position, aware of the circumstances surrounding the political 
situation of the Mexican Republic, of protesting before, and in 
the name of the nation, against the subject matter and import of 
those manifestoes : 

Firstly, — For that they are against the express provisions of 
the political constitution of the Republic, and are consequently 
arbitrary, illegal and void of effect. 

Secondly. — For that they create a dictatorship, to be wielded 
by Benito Juarez, who can, at his option, supersede one of the 
Federal authorities, sovereign and independent, whose- functions 
have been recognized by the vote of the nation, in this wise 
destroying a Republican principle, and the basis of legal order, 
that is, the form of Gfovernment established hy the Constitution. 

Thirdly. — For that they are contrarj^ to the spirit of the 
powers delegated to the Executive by the National Congress, 
which to-day, notwithstanding existence of a war with France, 
declared, while making the concessions contained in the decree 
of December 11th, 1861, whereby authority of every nature was 
conceded to the executive to institute, unrestrictedly, such 
measures as might be considered apt and proper under the actual 
circumstances, that such powers to be exerted with a sole view 

2 



10 

of preserving the independence and integrity of the national 
territor}^, the form of Government established by the Constitution^ 
and the principles and laws of reform.. Moreover, the law of 
October 27th, 1862, imposed a positive restriction that the 
executive could do nothing contrary to the provisions of Title 
IV of the Constitution, which provides that the President has 
no power to declare if cause exists against any public functionary 
— a restriction, conceived and set forth with the aim of preclu- 
ding possibility of the President abusing his power to the detri- 
ment of constitutional authority. 

Fourthly. — For that the decrees aforesaid seriously compro- 
mise the independence of the nation, robbing its defenders of a 
legitimate government, which alone can serve as a rallying point 
for united patriotism, and substituting in its stead an illegal 
usurpation, with no more force in authority than that of the un- 
constitutional decrees now issued. 

Fifthly. — For that the tone of those decrees is insulting to 
the Mexican people, battling for principle beneath the constitu- 
tional banner, as from a perusal of their text it may be inferred 
that blood, spilled by thousands of patriots and martyrs, had 
been out-poured with no other object than for a defence of the 
person of Benito Juarez, and that, without the salvation of this 
individual, the cause of Mexico would be hopeless. 

Sixthly. — For that the statements set forth in those decrees 
are not only founded upon sophistry, but contain calumnies 
affecting my personal and ofiicial character. 

The obligations of the solemn oath, assumed by one as consti- 
tutional President of the Supreme Court of Justice, in accordance 
with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, has been so far ob- 
served by me in full faith, as well as with a regard for the popular 
rights, secured the nation by that instrument ; as the nation, 
when again recovering full exercise of its privilege, must hold 
all functionaries to a strict accountability. 

Eagle Pass, December 21st, 1865. 

JESUS a. ORTEGIA. 

To Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. 



11 



THE CITIZEN, JESUS G. ORTEGA, 

CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OP THE SUPREME COURT OP JUSTICE, 
TO THE MEXICAN NATION. 

Mexicans : 

Don Benito Juarez has issued, at El Paso del Norte, on the 
8th day of November last past, through the intermediation of 
Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, acting as Minister of Eelation 
and Government, two decrees: in one, extending the duration of 
his own powers, and in the other divesting of authority the 
President of the Supreme Court of Justice. Although alleging 
two separate pretexts for this last decree, it has been issued with 
the sole and exclusive aim of arrogating to his personal action 
the election of the' Vice-President of the Republic, a person who, 
by the express terms of the Constitution, is entitled to, and 
should succeed to the exercise of the Supreme Executive power 
on the 1st of December following. There is nothing singular in 
this step of the Senor Lerdo de Tejada, when his past political 
career has been called to mind. It must be remembered that 
he was one of the persons participating in the coup d'etat of 
Commonfort — a bloody page in the history of Mexico, which 
excited the scandal of the world. Eeturning to the soil of my 
country, whither I had been drawn from promptings of honor 
and duty, and where I had come to fulfil the duties of the office 
which I had received, not from Benito Juarez, but through the 
spontaneous expression of national confidence, the first spectacle 
which greeted my vision was its genial horizon lowering over a 
blood-stained country, strewn with the ruins of a political edifice, 
previously raised at so dear a cost. There were presented to 
me two decrees, foreshadowing the gloom of the future. Beneath 
their shadow I perceived anarchy and disorder, an outrage upon 
the Mexican people, another scandal in our political history, as 



12 

the inevitable consequences of acts, reprobated by morality and 
experience, the deeds of men who have prostituted the law into 
a means to serve their personal ambition, instead of administering 
it for the public good. They revived the painful reflection that 
Mexicans, treasuring confidence in the purifying influences of 
Eepublicanism, had deceived themselves when they had hoped 
that ignominy had forever disappeared from their midst, leaving 
behind it but a melancholy memory of previous misdeeds. 

My first impression was to postpone all action for the benefit 
of ray country, for which I would have spared no sacrifice, what- 
ever may be its magnitude. My public career, heretofore with- 
out stain, is the clearest testimony of the truth of my sentiments. 
Two expedients presented themselves, whereby to extricate my- 
self from my cruel position. The one was to remain mute, say- 
ing not a word against the illegality of these decrees, immolating 
mj'self upon the altar of my country, retiring to some foreign 
land, so that the friends of legality, of popular rights, of consti- 
tutional privilege, should have no other banner to rally around 
than that set up in this arbitrary manner. 

The other was to protest against these decrees, leaving national 
rights intact, yet not to erect a new standard, for this might gene- 
rate a fresh and imprudent scandal ; neither was I willing to 
absent myself, for such a desertion would militate against princi- 
ple. Had I followed the first suggestion, I would have 
abandoned rights, not my own, but those of the people, trans- 
mitted to me through their votes ; I should have shirked fulfil- 
ment of the oath taken before the National Congress, and 
avoided performance of the duties of my ofiicial position, substi- 
tuting in their stead a modest shame ; I would have abandoned 
the straight road and turned aside into another, whether for 
good or evil, but which assuredly was not the pathway of duty 
and honor. Moreover, it would have resulted in leaving the 
country without a legal government, without which it would 
have been impossible to have made head against a colossal 
enemy ; it would have authorized a fresh attack upon the dignity 
of the law, without which it is hopeless to anticipate permanent 
establishment of the Republic, and of national tranquility. 



13 

In adopting a second course, I would fulfil my duty and 
demonstrate to the nation that I was not a party, neither tacit or 
active, to the blow iufiicted upon constitutional rights ; I would 
show to the world that the errors of two men were not those of the 
nation, whose interests are derived from a more elevated origin — 
interests which Mexico has defended for the last ten years— and 
finally, I would place myself in a position before my country 
capable of defending my conduct. Neither did I believe that 
persistence in silence would better the military condition of the 
war. Consequently, I determined upon this last line of conduct, 
and directed to Don Sebastian de Lerdo de Tejada the protest 
against the unconstitutional decrees to which I have alluded. 

ARTICLES OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. 79. — The President shall enter upon the functions of his 
office on the first day of December, and continue for the term of 
four years. 

Art, 79 — In the temporary absence of the President of the 
Eepublic, and in the interim before his successor qualifies, the 
President of the Supreme Court of Justice shall enter upon and 
perform the duties of that office. 

Art. 80. — If the absence of the President be absolute, a new 
election will be held, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 
76, and the President, in this wise elected, will perform his 
functions until the last day of ISTovember of the fourth year from 
the time of his election. 

Art. 82. — If^from any cause luhatsoever, the election for Presi- 
dent is not held and puhlished hy^ the 1st day of December^ hy which 
time the vacancy shoidd have been filled, or that the candidate elect 
should fail to enter upon the performance of his duties, the term of 
the previous President, nevertheless, ceases, and the Supreme execu- 
tive power, during the interim, luill vest in the President of the 
Supreme Court of Justice. 

Art. 94. — The members of the Supreme Court of Justice, 



14 

upon entering upon the functions of their of&ce, shall take an oath 
before Congress, or in the event of its adjournment, before the 
Permanent Deputation, in the following form : — " You do swear, 
loyally and patriotically, to fill the office of Magistrate of the 
Supreme Court of Justice, which the people have conferred upon 
you conformably to the Constitution, and regarding only the 
welfare and prosperity of the Union. 

Art. 95. — The Office of Magistrate of the Supreme Court of 
Justice can only he renounced for grave causes (for causa grave), 
qualified hy Congress, unto whom the renunciation must he presented, 
if during its adjournment, the qualification shall he made hy the 
Permanent Deputation. 

TITLE ly. 

RESPONSIBILITIES OF PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES. 

Art, 103. — The deputies of the Congress of the Union, the 
Magistrates of the Supreme Court and Cabinet Secretaries, are 
responsible for malfeasance in office, and for the derelictions or 
omissions which occur during their continuance in office. The 
governors of states are equally responsible for infractions of the 
Constitution and Federal laws. So, also, is the President of the 
Republic : but, during his term of office, he can only be accused 
on charges of treason against the country, of express violation of 
the Constitution, of attacks upon the elective franchise, and of 
criminal offences of the common order. 

Art. 104. — If the crime be of the common order. Congress, 
acting as a grand jury, will decide whether there be cause to 
proceed against the accused. In the case of a regular decision, 
no ulterior proceedings can be had. Should the decision be 
affirmative, the accused will be suspended from office and sub- 
jected to the action of the ordinary tribunals. 

Art. 105. — In cases of malfeasance. Congress will act as a jury 

of accusation, and the Supreme Court as a tribunal for judgment. 

The jury of accusation will declare as to the guilt of the 



15 

accused by a majority of votes. If the accusation be absolved 
the official will continue in the enjoyment of his office ; if sus 
stained, the offender will be immediately divested of office 
and placed at the disposition of the Supreme Court. This Court, 
erected into a tribunal of sentence, in the presence of the criminal 
the public prosecutor and the accuser, if any there be, shall pro 
ceed to pronounce, by a majority of votes, the penalty which the 
law provides. 

Art. 106. — Judgment pronounced for responsibility as to 
malfeasance, no pardon can be granted the transgressor. 

Art. 107. — Eesponsibilifcy as to malfeasance can only be ex- 
acted during the term of the offender's office, and for the period 
of one year thereafter. 

Art. 108. — In demands of a civil order, there is neither pro- 
cess nor immunity for public functionaries. 

In according extraordinary powers to the Executive, by reason 
of the state of war, Congress, in its concessions in the decree of 
October 27, 1862, imposed an express and definite restriction 
that he should do nothing contrary to the provisions of Title lY 
of the Constitution. Hence, it can be readily surmised that 
Congress had other objects in imposing this restriction upon the 
Executive beyond the mere conservation of constitutional order, 
in placing the high dignitaries of the State beyond reach of 
Presidential attack. They evidently feared that, were unlimited 
power placed in the h-ands of the Executive, he might proceed 
against some functionary, and in this wise produce internal dis- 
order, as Juarez has done in this instance, contrary to the pro- 
visions of the Constitution, through abuse of the powers accorded 
by Congress, and to the manifest prejudice of public decency. 

According to Article 95 of the Constitution, "the office of 
Magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice can only be re- 
nounced for grave causes {por causa grave), qualified by CongTess, 
unto whom the renunciation must be presented. If, during its 
adjournment, the qualification shall be made by the Permanent 



16 

Deputation." A sufficient answer to this consists in the fact that 
I have not renounced the office, conferred upon me by popular 
suffrage, nor has any grave cause been urged against me to 
render such a step advisable, and consequently no qualification 
has been made by either Congress or the Permanent Depu- 
tation. 

I 'have quoted the preceding provisions of the Constitution, so 
that from a perusal of their text the enormit}^ of their infraction 
is apparent, and not with a view to exhibit the utter worthless- 
ness of the pretensions upon which are based the decrees of 
November, which attempt would be an insult to the common 
sense of the general public. 

In the decrees of Juarez, and the circular accompanying them, 
he has sought to furnish a sample of logic and explanation of 
our constitutional law. To these puerile expedients he has had 
recourse, for want of better reasons to support his assumptions. 
Neither as a Mexican, nor as a magistrate, do I wish to discuss 
this point ; the nation will adjudicate upon the simple narration 
of fact. I would it were within my province to reveal all ; it 
would vindicate my conduct and place Juarez and Lerdo in no 
enviable and patriotic light ; but national interests demand my 
silence. 

The coup cTetat of Commonforfc, in 1857, caused Don Benito 
Juarez, then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to enter upon 
the executive functions of the Union. Legal order established 
after three years of civil war, Congress met in 1861, and 
there being no person legally entitled to assume the functions of 
the Presidency of the Eepublic, in the event of a vacancy, by 
reason of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice having 
entered upon the duties of the Chief Executive, an election was 
held to supply the vacancy in the order of succession to the 
Presidency, and, in accordance with that design, I was elected 
to the Presidency of the Supreme Court, a(i interim. About that 
period I had been elected, by the popular vote. Governor of the 
State of Zacatecas. 

After assuming the prescribed oath of office, as President of 
the Court, ad interim, before the National Eepresentatives, I pro- 



17 

ceeded, a few days thereafter, to the city of Zacatecas, and assumed 
the Grovernorship of that State. 

This occurred in the year 1861. During the last months of 
that year, and the earlier ones of 1862, I acted alternately as 
Constitutional Governor of Zacatecas, G-overnor and Military 
Commander of the State of San Luis Potosi, and Military Com- 
mander of the States of Aguascalientes and Tamaulipas. This 
last disposition was made in consequence of the state of the war. 

During all this time neither the nation, the Permanent Depu- 
tation, nor Congress, when it assembled, perceived that I had 
abandoned the Presidency, ad interim^ of the Supreme Court, nor 
did they detect that incompatibility in office holding which 
Senors Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada seek to discover by a resort 
to obsolete constitutional authority, with the aim of finding out 
that which has no existence in our present national compact. 

It had been the desire of Congress simply to select a person 
with an acknowledged and legal title to succeed to the Presi- 
dency of the Eepublic, in the event of a vacancy, and not an 
individual to preside over the ordinary business of the Court. 
The political emergencies of the period, particularly during a 
state of war, demanded the recognition of a person entitled to 
the succession, and it mattered little whether he was, or was not, 
Governor of Zacatecas. 

During normal times it might have proven inconvenient for 
the same individual to enjoy two employments, still the Consti- 
tution is silent on that head, and neither have I pretended to fill 
both at the same time. The war and state of the country 
governed my actions, and not my own inclinations, for my honor 
and sense of duty to my native land have impelled me to situa- 
tions wherein I could render myself most useful to my country. 
Moreover, I have ever deemed it a gratification to obey the 
summons which the nation extends to a soldier of the people. I 
have referred to past events, not for the sake of argument, but 
to cite facts, patent to the world, and ratified by popular 
opinion. 

During my sojourn in Zacatecas and San Luis, at a distance 
from the capital of the Republic, a popular election was held for 
the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Justice, which election, 

3 



18 

according to the declaration of the house, resulted in my eleva- 
tion to that dignity, notwithstanding opposition from the ad- 
ministration of Benito Juarez, with all its power and influence. 

When elected I was constitutional Governor of Zacatecas, and 
notwithstanding that fact, on niy transit through the capital of 
the Eepublic, I took the oath of office and entered upon its func- 
tions for a day, and thence passed on to assume command of my 
arni}^ division in the department of the East. 

Shortly after, I took command in my capacity as General-in- 
Chief of that department, and a very little later officiated as 
Governor and Military Commander of the State of Puebla, which 
I held until the middle of the year 1863 ; and during all this 
period I maintained a second capacity, as I have stated, namel}'-, 
as constitutional Governor of Zacatecas. 

During the interval of my respective services, neither the 
nation, the Permanent Deputation, nor Congress discovered any 
abandonment on my part of the Presidency of the Court, neither did 
they perceive that incompatibility in employments, concerning 
which so much has been said. I was found exactl}- where my 
duty as a soldier summoned me. 

Having been taken prisoner on the plaza of Puebla, it appears 
that some propositions were made in the House, having for their 
object the nomination of some person to replace me in office. 
No action was had on these propositions, as my nomination had 
been made for the Presidency of Court in compliance with the 
requirements of the Constitution, consequently the appointment 
of any other person would have been invalid on account of its 
unconstitutionality. The records of the Congressional session 
attest the truth of these facts. Haviog attained freedom through 
an escape from the prison of Orizaba, I forthwith hastened to 
San Luis, where I found the Government located. After open- 
ing the Supreme Court, I directed my steps to the State of Zaca- 
tecas, in no wise abandoning the Presidency of the Court, as has 
been malignantly asserted, but on the contrary, compljdng with 
all the rules and regulations governing the internal organization 
of that body. 

At the time of my march, and my separation from the Court, 



19 

I demonstrated to the magistrates that my escape from prison 
in no wise compromised my parole of honor, and that my object 
was to hold myself in readiness to struggle for the independence 
of Mexico, whose salvation depended rather upon feats of arms 
than upon discussions of points of law, and hence I was anxious 
to present myself in a State of which I was a son and the gover- 
nor, to imjDOse new obstacles to the advance of the invader. My 
colleagues approved of my resolution. A little later was con- 
ceded the license I solicited ; at the time I was still Governor of 
Zacatecas. 

I had, on many occasions, organized the troops of Zacatecas 
and commanded them through various successful campaigns. 
I had been one of the leaders of the State during the revolution 
for reform and the establishment of public order. I had been a 
governor for five years, and was so at the time, having been re- 
elected by the popular vote. 

It was natural to suppose I exerted no little influence upon 
the political affairs of that population. My convictions, and I 
may assert without fear of equivocation, the convictions of my 
copatriots, demanded that I should devote my energies to the re- 
organization of its troops, to impose a bold front to the enemy 
during those solemn moments of the country. 

It is but rational to presume that the Grovernment of the 
Union would have been actuated by similar patriotic convictions. 
The spectacle of the national drama remained unchanged, or, if 
it had changed at all, the aspect had been rendered more melan- 
choly by the misfortunes incurred at Mexico and Puebla; never- 
theless, personal interests, shielded from public scrutiny, over, 
powered considerations for the common weal. 

During anterior years'my permanent presence at the court had 
not been deemed requisite, neither was it so considered when I 
lay besieged within the walls of Puebla. But in those days 
organs of the popular voice were on the alert, keeping constant 
guard over the interests of the State. 

The Government worked only to stultify my influence ; it 
operated to preclude any opportunity of my sharing the popular 
destiny through rendering fresh services to the country. The 
cardinal policy of all its acts tended towards ulterior purposes. 



20 

M}^ position at the head of the troops of an influential Demo- 
cratic State was one of the most serious obstacles Mexico pre- 
sented to the invader ; it served, moreover, as a sentinel, guarding 
the legal rights and privileges of the people, so that the offices 
of the State could not be disposed of, as if they were in the hands 
of private proprietors. 

The administration of Senor Juarez, instead of employing for 
the benefit of Mexico the great or little influence which I pos- 
sessed in Zacatecas, commenced intriguing, in a private manner, 
with a view of removing matters and persons to another sphere, 
in order to neutralize my influence. At the sanie time, Senor 
Juarez iniuted a private epistle to Don Severo Cosio, Avho acted 
as Grovernor of Zacatecas, promising him a continuance in office. 
As the tenor of the communication was of a private character, 
and related to the personal opinions of the President, the patriot 
Senor Cosio answered in a like style, assuring him that my in- 
fluence in the State, taken in connection with my official position 
as governor, was of importance, if not absolutely necessary, did 
they desire to defend the integrity of the State. ISTevertheless, 
the intrigues continued. Shortly after came commissioners and 
agents of the Government, who tendered proposals of command 
to the General, Don Yictoriano Zamora, who had been provisional 
constitutional Governor of the said State in previous years. Civil 
war was on the point of breaking out in Zacatecas by reason of 
the private intrigues of the Government, and this, too, at a time 
when the French army was penetrating into the interior of the 
country, and Zacatecas was standing in threat of an attack. 

The Government was well aware that, should it declare 
Zacatecas to be in a state of siege, with the view of appointing a 
governor, selected by it, to supersede me, it would be my duty 
to obey the mandate ; but, at the same time, the Goverment was 
likewise aware that such an act would be reprobated by a State 
notoriously jealous of the exercise of its privileges, and one 
which contributed the most towards the defence of Independence 
under a constitutional regime. It was aware, moreover, that the 
nation at large would recognize, in an act of that nature, the 
motive of its dictation to be to impair my popularity to serve its 



21 

own personal inclinations. All these macliinations crumbled to 
pieces, shaken by the patriotism and common sense of the people 
of that section of the Republic. 

The country disapproved of all these things, for it was deemed 
necessary to discard private interests, and to concentrate every 
energy towards the public welfare. With this object in 
view, a delegation, composed of the Deputies, the Licentiate 
Don Jose Maria Castro, and Col. Don Jesus Leora, was sent to 
the city of San Luis, there to address the Government in a firm 
yet respectful manner, as to the resolution taken up by Zacatecas 
to furnish troops, in its sovereign capacity, in accordance with its 
population and dignity, which forces would be placed at the 
disposal of the Supreme Grovernment. At the same time, the 
delegation was charged to request that no more obstacles 
should be placed in the way of its particular Grovernment, when 
endeavoring to discharge its patriotic mission. Finally the 
State agreed to guarantee all my actions, and pledged itself to 
pay over monthly the assessment levied upon it as a national 
contribution. 

The general Government had previously dispatched agents into 
the State, ostensibly to act as collectors of revenue, but in reality 
to impede my progress in the work of raising troops. Had the 
Government stood in need of resources, the delegation were pre- 
pared to stipulate as to payment of contributions, under the 
proviso of having the amount definitely determined. The 
delegation had interviews with Senor Juarez and some of his 
ministers, without arriving at any satisfactory conclusion. 
Nothing could be more natural, for they were strenuously opposed 
by two ministers, holding secret communications with the enemy, 
as was shortly afterwards demonstrated to the public through 
the notoriety of their treason. These ministers, in treacherous 
employ, naturally exerted every endeavor to damage the Republic, 
and through complication of affairs to augment its perilous con- 
dition. Nevertheless all their arguments were warmly applauded 
by this same Senor Juarez, for they flattered his vanity by en- 
couraging expectations as to his prolongation of his term of 
office. 



22 

The definite answer received by the delegation, was to the 
effect that it would manifest to me that the Government had no 
inclination to recall its agents, and neither did it stand in need of 
troops^ as there were sufficient under the command of Generals Do- 
hlado and Uraga. 

The delegation conveyed to me the result of its mission, and I 
detected the hand of treason in these machinations of the cabinet. 
So, was it possible that the defence of our independence de- 
manded no further soldiery, when a foreign army was invading 
the national domain ? Did no necessity exist for fresh troops, 
when the army of the East had been dissipated at Puebla ? My 
conscience di*stated perseverance in discharge of my duty as a 
Mexican, and as Governor of Zacatecas. 

Shortly after Senor Juarez departed from the State of San 
Luis, and proceeded to that of Coahuila, in consequence of the 
loss of the division under General Negrete, which served him as 
an escort. 

About this time the Deputy, Don Trinidad Garcia de la Ca- 
dena, visited Saltillo on a mission from the Governor of Zacatecas 
to Senor Juarez. Upon concluding his ofl&cial business he was 
invited to a private interview with Senor Lerdo de Tejada, 
Minister of Foreign Relations and Government. Thither he 
presented himself, and received from the Minister proposals 
flattering his ambition as to military command. It was proposed 
to him that, upon my first absence from the city of Zacatecas, 
he should seize upon the Governorship, supported by the troops 
beneath his command as a colonel. He was, moreover, informed 
that the Government would approve of this measure, and would 
immediately thereafter forward him his commission as Governor 
of the State. 

Senor Garcia de la Cadena, a native of Zacatecas, who had 
rendered the country signal service, both in politics and the 
army, refused to accept this proposition, objecting that such a 
course would excite a civil war within a State upon the eve of in- 
vasion by a foreign force. Nevertheless, the intrigues were not as 
yet concluded. The same Senor Cadena, while communicating 
to me the narrative of his oflS.cial mission, remarked, " I have 
noted, in all my conferences at Saltillo with Senor Lerdo de 



28 

Tejada and his sabordinates, that a strong desire exists for the 
disbandment of the troops which you have organized and are 
continuing to organize. They fear them, because they also dread 
the arrival of the period at which the term of Jaurez's office 
will expire, as of course, Senor Lerdo desires to continue in 
discharge of his ministerial functions." 

My relations in the General Government were apparently 
in concert and harmony. The course of the war compelled it to 
withdraw more than 150 leagues from Zacatecas, and experience 
demonstrated that it had ample need of the forces which I had 
been engaged in organizing. 

In one or two months I raised, equipped and armed a strong 
division of the three arms of the service. They had been raised 
in the midst of these numerous intrigues, and against the incli- 
nations of Senor Juarez, and served to co-operate, in more than 
one instance, most ef&caciously for the salvation of his person, 
and consequently of that of the legitimate government, beside 
paying implicit obedience to orders received from him. 

Herein are some of the consequences of the abandonment, as 
he states, of the Presidency of the Supreme Court, while at San 
Luis. 

I was still within the State of Zacatecas, at the head of the 
division I had organized, when most reliable information was 
communicated to me with regard to the contemplated treason of 
Don Jose Lopez Uraga, who commanded, as General-in-Chief, the 
flower of the Republican army, in the South of Jalisco. 

I repeatedly communicated this intelligence to Senor Juarez, 
so that he might institute effective measures with regard to this 
General, and avoid the destruction of our army. 

General Corona possessed a command under the immediate 
orders of Uraga. When he became aware of his superior's trea- 
son, he demanded his passports and withdrew. Passing 
through Zacatecas, he entered into a conversation with me rela- 
tive to this treason. 

Corona gave to the Government a minute and official narration 
of the affair, and placed. the manuscript in my hands for trans- 
mission, which I sent forward by a special messenger. This 
messenger was Captain Don Marcelino E. Cavero, an officer who 



24 

had likewise separated from the forces of Uraga, and who was 
charged to communicate other details verballj^ to the Grovern- 
ment. 

Other chiefs, comiug from the south of Jalisco, successively 
visited me, corroborating particulars of the affair. I was assured 
by all of them that full knowledge of Uraga's contemplated 
treason had been communicated to the Government by the 
illustrious and patriotic Greneral Arteaga. At a later period I 
found this statement substantiated in an autogra[)hic letter of 
that unfortunate and lamented 2,'eneral. 

Greneral Don Felipe B. Berriozabal, passing through the State 
of Zacatecas, invited me to a conference with the intention of 
placing me in possession of facts connected with the treason 
projected in Jalisco. Urgent militarj^ business precluded my 
presence at the proposed interview. 

Greneral Berriozabal, without loss of time, pressed forward to 
the States of Coahiula and Neuvo Leon, then the seats of the 
Government. 

He presented himself thither, and gave most conclusive evi- 
dence of the existence of the treason alluded to, as that was the 
object of his mission. He did more, he denounced Uraga to the 
Government as guilty of high treason. Still nothing was done. 
Senor Juarez made but a single reply, saying : " That if Senor 
Berriozabal had been invited to participate in the projected treason, 
it had been, doubtlessly, done as a test of his firmyiess and con- 
stancyy 

The General, taking into consideration what had passed, and 
the support bestowed upon Uraga by the Senors Juarez and 
Lerdo, withdrew his accusation and remitted to the Government 
a communication, very respectful, 3'et expressed in emphatic 
terms, in which he stated that either the Government should in- 
vestigate the charges made agai ist him by Uraga, or he would 
publish documents dishonorable alike to Uraga and the Government. 
His demand was complied with, and Senor Berriozabal gave to 
light the communication to which I have alluded and the 
answer, wherein he vindicated himself, preserving in obscurity 
the documents to which he referred. Senor Juarez and Lerdo 
persistently turned a deaf ear to complaints ; they regarded as 



25 

of no account the depositions and information given by persons 
interested. The honor of Mexico, the morality of the army, the 
salvation of the elements for a successful defence of our inde- 
pendence appeared to them of no value. It was a matter of 
policy to destroy these elements created, as all the world knows 
and admits, by the States of the confederation through their 
individual energies and resources. It was absolutely necessary 
to demolish the sustenance of constitutional order in order to 
create other elements and other agencies with the aim of perpetu- 
ating, when the time arrived, power in the hands of Senor 
Juarez. I state this, for I know of no ofcuer explanation which 
can be given of anterior facts. Moreover, I am authorized in 
this statement, by the facts themselves, as I have heard from the 
very lips of Senor Lerdo, when he says: "The destruction of 
existing things is of no consequence ; great causes save them- 
selves. Our sole question of to-day is how to live." 

Every one is aware of the manifold means at the disposal of a 
minister for the complication of a political situation, whereby, 
of his own accord, he can undermine the foundations of pubfic 
order. The secret workings of his cunning may may escape the 
observation of the multitude, but never the penetrating criticism 
of the historian Nevertheless, how much more easy the de- 
structive task through the machinations of an arbitrary minister, 
versed in the art of cajoling the vanity of a dominant ex- 
ecutive. 

Located in the city of Zacatecas were two strong divisions of 
the three arms of service, with a formidable train of artillery ; the 
one under the command of General Doblado, the other under my 
orders. Both divisions were at the disposal of the G-overnment 
when it saw proper to use them. Although both of these corps 
were located at several days' march from the plaza of San Luis, 
an order was given to General Ne^rete by the Government to 
assail that position with the single division at his disposition. 

This division were completely destroyed in the attack ; subse- 
quently the division of General Doblado was cut up by piece- 
meal at Matehuala ; a little later, mine was annihilated at Ma- 
joma. 

At a conference which I subsequently had with Senor Juarez 

4 



26 

at Monterey, in the presence of the Minister of War, I remarked 
to him that the period was not far distant when the nation would 
hold the Government to an account for ihe disastrous manner 
in which it had frittered away the material for the national 
defence, through dispersing the elements of resistance by frac- 
tions, for whatever may have been its intentions, the work of the 
Government bore that appearance. 

In August of last year the withdrawal of our forces and of 
the seat of Government from Neuvo Leon and Coahuila was 
determined upon. General Negrete had then charge of the 
ministry of war, to which he conjoined a double employment as 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, composed of two divisions, 
the one under command of General Alcade, and the other under 
my orders — the same as I had raised in Zacatecas. 

In the city of Saltillo I received orders from the General-in- 
Chief to march to the Punta de la Angostina, at the head of the 
two divisions, and there give battle to the enemy, should tkey 
court it. If they avoided an engagement I was to retire the 
same night in the direction of the villa of Monclova. I obeyed 
my orders and accomplished the latter command, finding it im- 
possible to execute the first, 

A little after my retreat I effected a junction with General 
Negrete, whose headquarters were at Saltillo. On the morrow 
the Government united with the forces, and journeyed in com- 
pany to the Hacienda del Anhelo. From this point the Govern- 
ment resolved to progress, by the way of Parras, to Chihuahua, 
carrying along with it General Negrete, who of&ciated as Minis- 
ter of War. 

The responsibility of saving our armj^ was committed to my 
charge, although in an indirect manner, for I had not been 
nominated General-in-Chief, but assigned to the command of the 
rear guard, following in the wake of tbe Government. This 
circumstance is to be noted as explanatory of the manner in 
which I was forced to assume the responsibility. 

The army was absolutely destitute of commissary stores, 
while the military chest contained not a single dollar. Its route 
lay over the most inhospitable and uninhabited section of the 
national territory ; for the greater part over a fearful desert, 



27 

devoid of grain and forage for the cattle. Beside, on these 
barren plains it was liable to be attacked and cut to pieces by 
the French forces for the want of the necessaries I have 
mentioned. 

It is likewise to be remembered that, if the arm_y was unpro- 
vided with a dollar to supply its absolute necessaries, it was not 
from want of means, which could have been provided before- 
hand, especially as two months had elapsed after the retreat had 
been determined upon, 

Th Government had abandoned a plaza, which it had occu- 
pied during several months, replete with resources, as was that 
of Monterey, where it could, and did, avail itself of the revenues 
from the frontier custom houses of Matamoras and Piedras 
Negras, 

I took my line of march in obedience to orders I had received. 
On the road I notified the Government that the French army 
was only four leagues distant, and received in reply a written 
order signed by Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, saying that I 
should abandon all my artillery and trains and limit myself to 
saving the personnel only of our army, to effect which I was free 
to take any measure I should deem expedient. 

I remonstrated energeticallv to tSenor Lerdo de Tejada, that 
acquiescence in the order I had received, would in no way result 
in saving the p)&^son7iel of our army, inasmuch as we would 
abandon the only means of its salvation in voluntarily sacrificing 
our war material, while at the same time we were compromising 
the honor of our arms. I said, however, that if, notwithstanding 
any opposition, the Government should insist upon observance 
of that order, it should be communicated to me ofl&cially, to 
absolve me from responsibility. My argument was attended 
to, and the Minister answered that the Government approved of 
my determination not to anticipate voluntarily the sacrifice of 
material, but to await the chances of a battle. The French army 
avoided a conflict at that time. 

I continued my march without interruption, losing, it is true, 
in the desert, a third or fourth part of our army, hundreds of 
mules, and a greater part of our munitions of war. 

I then gave notice to the Government, located at the Villa del 



28 

Almo de Parras, that I bad detected symptoms of a dissolution 
of the forces, as well as from scarcity of provisions and stores, 
as from consequences of the privations endured by the army. 

To avoid that calamity, I received an order from the Minister 
of Eelations not to separate myself from the body of my troops. 

At the Hacienda of Santa Rosa a council of war was sum- 
moned by tbe Government, at which, after hearing the opinion 
of the ministers, I received the appointment of Commander-in- 
Chief of the army. 

At the same time there were accorded to me extraordinary 
powers to |3rocure a supply of metallic currency, of which tbe 
army stood in absolute need, with the restriction, however, of 
acting, on this point, in concert with General Patoni, the Con- 
stitutional Governor of Durango, in which State was located both 
the army and the Government, who would effect some arrange- 
ments with the landed proprietary to supply the wants of the 
soldiers. Patoni assured me of the impossibility of enforcing 
contributions upon the landholders, reduced to penury through 
the hardship of the war. If this were true, as it doubtless was, 
it only went to aggravate the privations of the troops, caused 
through the intentional want of foresight in the Government. 
It was under the circumstances of this unavoidable nature that 
the army, whose dissolution was inevitable, was placed under 
my orders as Commander-in-Chief. The warmest advocate for 
my appointment, as I learned from the Minister of War, was 
Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. 

It is worthy of note, that if the condition of the army was bad 
when it commenced its retreat from Anhelo, it grew notoriously 
worse, as was natural, from the causes I have related. 

It is more worthy of note, that when I took charge as Com- 
mander-in-Chief, the coffers of the Government contained 
thousands of dollars, reserved for its own use and that of its 
employees, whom it preferred to the salvation of an army, 
whose privations had ascended to a point of heroism — an army 
which had been raised at a heavy cost to the States of Durango, 
Coahuila, Neuvo Leon and Zacatecas. 

At the Council of War, of which I have spoken, I delivered 
my opinion, in terms perfectly intelligible to the Government, 



29 

that we should not destroy, piecemeal, the material upon which 
we depended, and that we should take advantage of the extent 
of our line to harass a formidable enemy. At the same time I 
advised giving battle to the hostile forces, regardless of the point 
of attack or the number of their reinforcements, inasmuch as, in 
in this manner, if fortune proved propitious to us, we might 
capture some city of importance, and if the reverse, it was pre- 
ferable that our army should be destroyed through chances of 
war than through want and misery, to the dishonor of the 
Government and our arms. 

I commenced my march from Santa Eosa, and posted myself 
between the States of Durango and Zacatecas, both occupied by 
the invading army. A few days afterwards occurred the battle 
of Majoma. 

The fortune of war caused us to lose one of two points occu- 
pied by our troops and artillery. I retook the point only to lose 
it again. 

The death of the brave Colonel Fernandez y Villagranta, who 
commanded the battalions of Zacatecas, as well as the loss of the 
leaders of distinction, and particularly the wounding of General 
Don Eugenio Castro, whom I had ordered to lead a charge of 
cavalry, introduced confusion among our ranks, which disorder 
was soon checke 1 through the ability of our of&cers. Under fire 
of the enemy our bodies of the National Guard remained firm. 
Evening approached rapidly, when I perceived that the heat of 
the conflict, the physical prostration, engendered through priva- 
tion and the march through the desert, had so far worn out the 
national troops that I ordered a retreat. It was effected in the 
most orderly manner, in the full sight of the French army, who 
dared not follow us ; consequently we left behind us but a portion 
of our artillery and the corpses of our brave and patriotic 
militia, whom we Avere forced to leave on the field of battle. 

It is not my intention to narrate, in a detailed manner, an account 
of all that befel us upon that disastrous day, for those matters I 
have already ofl&cially reported to the Government. My object 
is merely to connect the thread of events. Our forces retired in 
the best possible order, to the town of San Miguel del Mezquital, 
and disbanded during the night of the same day on which 



30 

occurred our reverses at Majoma, No discipline could have 
averted this final calamity. Every man conceived that he had 
discharged his duty, and that the war could be more successfully 
carried on in detached bodies. The only aspect for a contrary 
course, presented to them, seemed that of privation and the desert. 
Senor Juarez was at that time in the town of Mazas, await- 
ing the result of my expedition, where he was visited by more 
than a hundred leaders, desirous of receiving facilities and orders 
to continue the campaign under other auspecies. But he did not 
await their action, for, aware of the disasters occurring to our 
forces, he withdrew to Chihuahua, one hundred and fiffy leagues 
from the place we occupied. 

I committed the insignificant remnants of our national forces 
to the charge of Generals Quesada and Caravajal, until the Go- 
vernment could make some disposition of them. 

I gave the official notice, to which I alluded, and received an 
acknowledgment, which ordered me to transfer the relic of our 
army to General Patoni, which I did. In the verbal conference 
which I had with the Government, I made known to it that there 
still remained at its disposal a small escort of cavalry which ac- 
companied me. This I regarded as my duty, and, after a lapse of - 
two or three days, I received an order to that effect, which I 
fulfilled. Tacitly I remained awaiting orders, as a general, from 
the Government; but this suspense in no wise suited me, so I 
notified it that I held myself ready to obey orders, and that such 
disposition could be made of my person as suited ofiicial inclina- 
tion. I had no military commission to fulfil, and did not even 
possess an escort. 

I would add to these particulars many other details respecting 
the charge made by the Government in one of its deci'ces, that 
"while holding the position of General in the army, I had gone 
to reside permanently in a foreign land, during continuance of 
hostilities, vnthout license from the Government, and tlierein aban- 
doning the army, its standards, and the cause of the Republic,^'' and 
which is likewise called the official dereliction of voluntarily 
abandoning the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Justice. A 
portion of the statements which I intend setting forth can be 



31 

substantiated by reputable persons, some well known in tbe 
State of Chihuahua, and others of a world-wide repute. Other 
assertions bear the sanction of the Government, and all observa- 
tions I shall make are deducible from the state of facts. I 
arrived in the State of Chihuahua after the disaster at Majoma, 
some time towards the end of September, 1864, and remained in 
that state until the end of February, 1865, when I departed for 
a foreign country. During all this period, in Chihuahua was the 
seat of the general Government, and for more than three months 
of the time above named I resided in the same city with the 
administration. During this period of inactivity I was tendered 
no command of troops to defend " the standard and cause of the 
Republic ;" neither was I offered any military commission, great 
or small, nor did I receive any intimation as to the manner in 
which my services and good will could be rendered of value to 
my country, although I ardently desired employment, if only 
for the sake of appearances. 

The Government had no desire to furnish me with troops, and 
in this wise deprived me of opportunity to add to my influence 
beneath a military title ; it preferred leaving me without positive 
support, and was blind to the privileges accorded me by the 
law. 

About this time it became incumbent upon the Executive 
either to relinquish his functions, according to constitutional 
provision, or to furnish such an explanation of the law as would 
warrant him constitutionally to prolong his term of office for 
another year. 

The 30th of November, 1864, arrived, and terminated four 
years, dating from the election of Senor Juarez. On that day I 
addressed a communication to that high functionary, through 
the medium of Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, in his capacity 
as Minister of Government, enquiring whether it was his inten- 
tion on the following day to pass over the executive power to 
me, as it has ceased by legal limitation ; or, if the contrary was 
his determination, I told him to bestow upon the constitutional 
law such an interpretation as he might deem proper, whereby 
we could avoid anarchy, stengthen the exercise of the functions 



32 

of the President of the Republic and leave intact the constitu- 
tional law — a law, sustained b}' the blood of the Mexican people 
during a period of eight years in warfare. To such a conception, 
I added, I would be among the first to give my acquiescence. 
This he gave me on the same day — November 30th, accompanied 
by a note, which had been agreed upon at a meeting of the 
Cabinet, and which bore the signature of Senor Sebastian Lerdo 
de Tejada. It decided that the constitutional term of ofl&ce of 
President Juarez did not conclude in that year (1>64), but would 
expire on the 80th of November, 1865, according to the pro- 
vision in the constitution. And, notwithstanding this decision, 
he claims to continue exercising the functions of President, 
according to the selfsame provision of the constitution, which he 
has previously interpreted to have closed his career, at the 
furthermost, upon the 30th day of November, 1865. 

I will insert, at this point, the exact words employed by the 
minister in his official note, in making his deductions from the 
premises he had laid down. " For which reason, it is decided 
that the term of ofl&ce of the Citizen President of the Republic 
does not expire until the 30th day of the next year, 1865, con- 
formably to the evidence and literal tenor of article 80 of the con- 
stitutio7i" 

In the same communication he declared me President of the 
Court. I did not pretend to this declaration, for I stood in no 
need of it, and neither the condition of affairs at this epoch, nor 
the interests of Mexico, demanded it. I had been appointed by the 
nation Constitutional President of the Court in 1862, and the 
House had declared me to be such in a most solemn manner. 
The decree, containing this declaration, had received the sanction 
of the executive and been published throughout the Republic. 

Neither popular opinion, nor the councils, municipalities, gov- 
ernors and legislatures of States entertained the least doubt upon 
the fact of my election, and of my being president of the court. 
To the nation belonged the right of appointing supreme authori- 
ties, in accordance with the fundamental law, sole source and 
fountain of authority with us. I did not, therefore, require any 
other appointment or declaration, and especially one, suited for 



83 

for the convenience of Senors Lerdo de Tejada and Juarez in 
their prospects for a future date — prospects whose tendencies 
were far from the conservation of the purity of the law, entrusted 
by the nation to the guardianship of Senor Juarez. 

The main object of the declaration was the destitution of the 
President of the Court elected by the people, and the substitution 
of one appointed by Don Benito Juarez, who might have the 
power of removing him at his individual pleasure. 

Such had been the intention of the government ever since it 
had left the city of San Luis. Latterly it had suffered no oppor- 
tunity to escape it to compass its design, even when the oppor- 
tunities failed to bear the imprint of patriotism. 

In this wise the Government acted, upon its arrival within the 
States of Neuvo Leon and Chihuahua, when issuing a decree 
summoning a reunion of the magistrates comprising the court. 
The summons found me at the head of my division, battling with 
the French troops within the interior of the republic. 

It was apparent that the sole motive for the decree was the ap- 
pointment of a President of the Court, who should owe his nomi- 
nation and creation to the President of the Republic, and thereby 
remove the prestige derived from a popular election from the 
person who might, through emergency, act as the substitute of 
the supreme magistrate of the nation. But the decree failed of 
effect. Out of respect for the position I occupy, out of respect 
to the dignity of the nation — the only source whence can come 
nominations of supreme authorities, and their destitution con- 
formably to the law- — I have preserved intact the charge reposed 
in me by the voice of the people. Consequently, in my official 
correspondence with the President of the Republic, I maintained 
the title conferred upon me by my fellow citizens as President of 
the Supreme Court of Justice. 

The determination of the Government to continue in office one~ 
year longer was acquiesced in by me, as I had previously antici- 
pated that action, and my object had been simply to obtain a con- 
struction of the spirit of the law which might become a definite 
and decisive opinion. 

I did not accept office, neither do I continue to hold it, simply 

5 



34 

for the cause of self-gratification ; during more glowing and less 
fluctuating periods, vvlieu fortune smiled upon me with pleasing 
aspect, I could have obtained official dignities, if not in a man- 
ner prescribed by the law, at least in such a wise as the law 
would countenance in a successful leader, during the stormy- 
hours of revolutionary transitions. But I have ever abided the 
sanction of the popular will, as expressed in accordance with the 
fundamental law. At that time, as now, I have only asked that 
respect be paid the law, as a foundation stone in the column sus- 
taining our institutions, beneath the shade of which we shall pro- 
gress in greatness, as has been done in the great republic from 
whose borders I indite these sentences. 

My of&cial communication and the answer from the govern- 
ment, of which I have spoken, were published in the state jour- 
nal. There was not the remotest possibility of establishing the 
court at the city of Chihuahua, as all the magistrates were at a 
great distance, save the licentiate, Don Manuel Euiz. I had, as 
I have observed, no military commission for active duty. In 
order to avoid imputation of doing aught to the disparagement 
of the Grovernment, and fearing lest my political influence might 
be seized upon to sanction meetings, ostensibly for social pur- 
poses, but in reality to distract public opinion, I withdrew myself, 
as it were, from comingling with the world, and sacrificed the 
pleasures of a social state, notwithstanding the hospitable recep- 
tion tendered me by the chivalric inhabitants of that illustrious 
and democratic state. 

From Chihuahua I addressed a letter to the President, Juarez, 
under date of December 28, 1864. No reference is made to this 
letter in the decrees of the 8th of November. 

In this epistle I stated, that having terminated the business 
which called me to that city — that is to ascertain whether or not 
his official term of service had ceased — I found myself without 
employment since the early days of October, when I had received 
orders to pass over the forces to Greneral Patoni ; that I had not 
installed the court, and found it impossible so to do, and that, in- 
asmuch as the state of affairs might result in a crisis^ from the fact 
of the President of the Re'puhlic and President of the Court heing in 



35 

one city in company^ and liable to capture by the French forces, by 
surprise or othenuise, and in this ivay leave the nation without a 
head, I requested to be granted a ; license as President of the 
Court, and a passport as a soldier, to take my way towards the 
interior of the republic, or to any of the populations on the sea 
coast, or to travel by sea to a foreign country, as I should esteem 
suited to my convenience, and with the object of continuing to 
serve my country. I transmitted this letter of solicitation ofl&cially, 
omitting only those passages above printed in italics, which I did 
not think suitable to be incorporated in a public letter, notwith- 
standing they set forth the most cogent reasons for urging my 
solicitation. 

My communication was read at a meeting of the cabinet and 
acted upon, as was natural to anticipate. 

On the 29th, Senor Juarez answered me in reply, saying: 
" There has been conceded to you the license and passport you 
solicited, and at the earliest opportunity the respective ministers 
will forward you the documents indicated." 

On the 30th I received the license granted to me as President 
of the Supreme Court from the Minister of Justice, together 
with a passport, issued by the Minister of War. 

I insert this last document at length, because, in the decrees of 
Benito Juarez an intentional omission has been made with re- 
gard to the fact of my having a military passport when I left the 
country, so that an accusation could be brought against me that 
" I had gone voluntarily to reside in a foreign country during 
the continuance of hostilities, without a license from Grovernment, 
thereby abandoning the army, its standard and the cause of the 
republic." 

" Secretary of State, Department of War and Marine ; Sec- 
tion First. — Upon this date the Minister of Justice, Protection 
and Public Order, makes known to the Citizen President of the 
Supreme Court of Justice, as follows : 

"In accordance with your petition, relative to having a license 
granted to you as President of the Supreme Court of Justice, to 
pass to a point unoccupied by the enemy, with the aim of con- 



36 

tinuing to defend in arms the independence of the Republic of 
Mexico, the citizen President has seen fit, in accordance loith a meet- 
ing of the cabinet, to accord you that license for a definite period, or 
until you present yourself (d the seat of the government, or when 
the government shall call iqjon you to return, or besioius upon you 
some commission — leave, in the meantime to proceed, either directly, 
or hy traversing tlie sea, or through some foreign country, to points 
of the Mexican Republic unoccupied by the enemy, so thai you, can 
continue defending the national independence loith the forces you can 
raise, with the understanding thai in all themiliiary undertakings 
you instiiuieyou are to act in concert with the governor and military 
commander of the respective states, or with the leaders of the republi- 
can forces, so thai in conjunction loith those raised by you, you can 
harass the enemy, but subordinate to the officers of the supreme gov- 
ernment, or to the agents to ivhom such power has been delegated. 

1 convey to you the official answer to your solicitation of 28th 
of the last month, and I have the honor of corresponding with 
3^ou for the purposes mentioned. 

It is transmitted to you on behalf of the Department of War. 

Independence and Liberty. 

Chihuahua, the SOth of December, 1864. 

M. NEGRETB. 

To the General of Division, Jesus G. Ortega, Present.'^ 

From the literal tenor of the document inserted, it can be 
adduced : 

Firstly. — That I had a license, as President of the Court, 
and a passport, as a soldier, to traverse foreign countries, Subse- 
quentlj' will be shown the reasons inducing me to dwell outside 
of the country. 

Secondly. — I had no definite orders to raise this or that force, 
or to collect together the elements of warfare within this or that 
period of time, neither was there any time fixed for my reaching 
Mexican territory, after traversing the sea and sojourning in 
foreign lands, with the sole provision of defending, upon the national 



37 

territory^ the independence of the Stcde, leaving me free to proceed 
to any point whicli I might consider the most proper. 

Thirdly. — The license accorded me, in pursuance of the 
decision of the cabinet, was for an indefinite period of time, either 
until I should present myself at the seat of Government, or be 
recalled, or have some ofiicial charge conferred upon me, thereby 
demonstrating that neither as President of the Court nor as a 
general in the army were my services for the moment required ; 
yet, nevertheless, it is apparent that in either or both of these 
capacities my absence, at a distance from the seat of Government, 
was desirable. 

FoufiTHLY. — The Government, instead of giving me authori- 
zation to raise forces in any part, or to collect war materials at a 
definite position, as it had done for a hundred other persons, and 
notably for guerilla chiefs, destitute of popular morality, issued 
to me a simple passport for the purpose of travel, inserting, 
however, a provision that the forces ivhich I might raise should act 
in conjunction loith the governors and military commanders, and 
with the chiefs of the Republican forces, without interference ivith the 
exercise of military and political functions of the officers of the Su- 
preme Government or their delegates. That is to say, that the 
Government precluded possibility in my raising of forces, for 
how could a Governor, having lost the capital of his State, 
secure resources or material to make head against an emergency ? 
What faculty had he to procure them against delegated authority, 
where power so to do had been denied by the Supreme Govern- 
ment of the Union ? Could a delegate of the Government, or 
even his subordinate, sustain me when my circle of action was 
reduced and limited? Could there be placed at my orders a 
solitary captain of guerillas, who might serve as a centre for 
forces which I might raise and discipline for a larger body, 
when the Government provided in my passport that I should 
act in conjunction with him ? 

I have demonstrated that I had in my possession a license to 
traverse the seas to a foreign country. I have, moreover, demon- 
strated that I was recognized by the nation as President of the 



38 

Supreme Court of Justice, a duty which I could not exercise in 
a judicial capacity, through the impossibility of convening the 
Court, but a position which I considered solely as the substitute 
to the President of the Eepublic, according to the provisions of 
the law. I liave, moreover, demonstrated that I had no military 
employment, neither army nor forces, be their number ever so 
small, nor even the material of warfare, thanks to the official 
opposition of the Grover anient. 

I was not annoyed at this disposition in the Executive, for I 
expected and was prepared for it. The services which I had 
rendered to my country had bestowed upon me influence, and 
that iDfluence opposed personal aggrandizement. In remem- 
brance of recent transactions, transactions which had presented 
to me many difficulties which I had surmounted, I was induced 
again to proffer my sword to my unfortunate country. 

In view of intelligence from the interior, and of the disposi- 
tion of the Grovernment, I determined to retire to a distance 
from it. 

I distrusted myself. I was uncertain of that which was best 
for the future of Mexico. I desired to be perfectly correct and 
sought light. 

I addressed myself for counsel to two illustrious and patriotic 
citizens, in whom I had confidence, and who formed a part of 
the circle of the Grovernment of Senor Juarez as his most zealous 
partizans, and I supposed them, as was natural, cognizant as to 
the emergencies of the times. Moreover, they were clothed with 
an official capacity as members of the Greneral Congress — they 
were Senors Don Gruillermo Prieto and Don Francisco Urquidi. 
Both were of an opinion that my best course was to proceed 
to the United States of America, inasmuch as from a port in 
that country I might journey to Acapulco, by the way of the 
Isthmus of Panama, and thence enter the Eepublic from the 
Pacific coast, and in the meanwhile I might ascertain, in the 
Grreat Eepublic, what could be done for the Mexican people. 

I accepted the suggestion and commenced my journey. Per- 
mit me to remark that the Grovernment was in no wise ignorant 
as to the course I had adopted ; on the contrary, when I reached 
the Custom House, at the Paso del Norte, I found an order to 



89 

pass my baggage to tlie United States, wliicli had been granted 
at the solicitation of my friends. 

Thence I went to Santa Fe, capital of 'Nf^,w Mexico. The 
authorities of that territory informed me of the presence there of 
a stranger, a Hungarian by birtb, who represented himself as a 
special commissioner of the Mexican Government to recruit 
volunteers, to negotiate a loan of some millions, hypothecating the 
imports of the Pacific seaports. It was, moreover, asserted that 
his credentials were apocryphal, taking into consideration that 
he was 'a foreigner unknown to the Mexican residents, and the 
fact that nations seldom, according to universal custom, commit 
such trusts to other than their own citizens. On this account I 
deemed it advisable to institute inquiries, so that if the man 
should prove an impostor I should cause his arrest and extra- 
dition to Mexico. 

My anterior acquaintance with this stranger, named Jaymes, 
was through a letter of introduction, representing him as a 
colonel, soliciting employment in the division beneath my com- 
mand in that capacity, but which I refused, as I was unaware of 
his antecedents. The information I subsequently acquired was 
that he was among the number of adventurers who travel the 
world seeking glory and fortune. I saw him three or four 
times. 

I made investigations into the character of his commission, 
which I found, in many respects, ample and correct, emanating 
from Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. He was authorized to 
raise two thousand men in foreign parts, as well as the sum of 
several millions, hypothecating for its repayment the revenues 
of several custom houses on the Pacific coast. The evasive 
talents of Senor Don Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada being notorious, 
it is supposed that he designed merely to co\i^er appearances 
when he bestowed upon this stranger such ample authority to 
accomplish great things, when he was confidently convinced that 
he could do nothing. I explained to the authorities of Santa 
Fe the nature of the commission bestowed upon the Hungarian 
gentleman, and returned thanks to them for their zeal in favor 
of Mexico. I arrived in the centre of the United States during 
the period of the termination of the great civil war. The press 



40 

indulged in favorable comments upon my arrival, and expressed 
profound sympathy with the cause of Mexico. It was likewise 
so with the entire continental press, and that of Europe. It was 
believed in the United States that I had some authority from 
the Government, seeing that the period for action was opportune, 
as in fact it was, that a demonstration should be made in support 
of Mexico and her independence. The enthusiasm of the 
Americans in our favor, and in support of the Monroe doctrine, 
was intense. 

On my passage from New Mexico to New York I was beset 
by thousands of persons, tendering their services and influence 
in favor of Mexico, many of them being of the highest social 
and political position. Generals vv^ith a most honorable record, 
commanding divisions and brigades, whose term of service had 
expired, volunteered to place themselves under my orders, to 
further our cause. 

The passage of the Eio del Norte could be easily effected with- 
out impairing the neutral' character the general Government at 
Washington had assumed, without respect to the Franco-Mexican 
question. I was, moreover, visited by several bankers of the 
highest position, who inquired as to the possibility of establish- 
ing an agency to supply our financial wants and that of warlike 
material. Persons who represented that they had authority to 
act on my behalf, which they had not, enlisted, within a few days, 
thousands of men to go to Mexico, but, as I have said, I gave 
no sanction to these acts, as I did not wish to lead home a filibuster 
expedition. 

Without loss of time, on the 8th of May, I addressed a letter 
to Senor Benito Juarez, announcing my arrival in the United 
States, the manner of my reception, and a view of what could be 
done in favor o:^ Mexico. Beside, Senor Juarez was aware of all 
this through the newspapars. I wrote, moreover, that I would 
pledge myself to enroll and equip, on my own part, any number 
of volunteers he might deem advisable — that I would collect 
war material to carry on hostilities, as well as an abundant sum 
of money, so as to be able to elevate the character of the war, 
and turn it to a fortunate account. All that was requisite to 
consummate these projects would be his authorization, for I was 



41 

unwilling to conclude any contract, or enter upon any enterprise 
witliout sanction of him, to whom the nation had committed 
emergent powers. I offered anew my individual services to 
Mexico. I furthermore suggested that, should he be unwilling 
to accord me the desired authorization, he should apprise me 
to that effect, that I might govern my subsequent actions 
accordingly. 

I communicated these details in a private epistle, and not in an 
official note, for I, at that time, held no official commission. Tl'iis 
matter was one of mere form, and had the correspondence re- 
sulted in anj'thing, the results would have been the same, irre- 
spective of the style of communication emploj^ed. 

I appointed a delegate to deliver personally this letter to Senor 
Juarez, having previously made him aware of its contents. This 
task was assumed by Don Guillermo Prieto, Administrator 
General of the Post Office and deputj^ to the Congress of the 
Union. It will be remembered that I had quitted Chihuahua 
in the month of February. It will be remembered, likewise, 
that my journey across the plains to New Mexico had occupied 
two months, for it had been undertaken during the Winter 
season. It must be furthermore remembered, that a period of 
from two months and twenty days to three months, is necessary 
for the transmission of an answer to a correspondence between 
the city of JSTew York and Chihuahua, and even then under 
favorable auspices as to transit, for it is only during the Summer 
season that post 'coaches can travel with rapidity. Oq this 
account I did not receive the answer from Don Guillermo 
Prieto until the commencement of August last. In this letter 
that gentleman stated that he had fulfilled my commission, that 
Senor Juarez had listened, with attention and interest, to the 
details of my letter, as communicated verbally by Senor Prieto, 
who was given, as he supposed, to understand that I should 
receive, by the next mail, the authorization I desired. The con- 
clusion of Senor Prieto's communication conveyed to me a 
felicitation touching my patriotic sentiments. " Whether or 
not," he wrote, "the Government accepts of your services, 
whether or not it renders your projects of utility to the country, 
you have assumed one of the most noble and disinterested tasks 

6 



42 

of a Mexican, in discarding all ideas of a personal reward, while 
endeavoring to strengthen the action of the Government, and, 
without seeking to create a new candidate for political honors, 
to strive to have Mexico continue, with unanimity of will, de- 
fending the cause of right, guided by a solitary intelligence — 
that of the legitimate Government." With a subsequent mail, 
towards the end of August, I received a further communication 
from Senor Prieto, which related to me that, notwithstanding his 
previous impressions, it was 7wiu ajypareni to him that the Go- 
vernment did not intend to bestow upon me the authorization, 
but whether or not, I should receive some response from Senor 
Juarez. Vainly I awaited its receipt by the next mail and 
the one folloAving. It was in September, and my anterior 
correspondence had incurred no interruption. I waited upon 
Senor Eomero, the Mexican Ambassador, near the Govern- 
ment of the United States, and inquired whether any com- 
munication had come through his hands for me from the 
Government of the Mexican Eepublic, and he answered in the 
negative. 

I comprehended from all this that Senor Juarez never would 
answer me, nor did ever intend so to do. He believed that, had 
I received any such document, it would have served to refute 
the fallacies upon which are based the decrees of the 8th of 
November ; which said documents, I verily believe, were at that 
very time in course of fabrication at the paper mill of the 
Minister Tejada. I comprehended, moreover, that these ne- 
gociations were being carried on with the sole aim of detaining 
me in the United States, so that by putting in play the jugglery 
of bad faith, it would be impossible for me to return to Mexico 
before the first day of December. 

It would be futile to vindicate my conduct to my fel- 
low citizens, as againfet the charges promulgated in these decrees, 
for a critical examination of them, through the impartial light of 
reason and philosophy, renders such an explanation unnecessary. 
These same decrees declare illegally " that there exists cause to 
proceed against me^'''' and adds most falsely " that I abandoned vol- 
untarily the office of President of the Supreme Court of Justice^ 
and thai, holding the position of genercd in the army, Iioent to re- 



43 

side permanently in a foreign land during the continuance of hos- 
tilities, luithout license from the government, and therein abandoned 
the army, its standard and the cause of the republic,^^ while in 
those same decrees, I repeat, wherein Senor Don Benito Juarez 
declares himself President of the Republic, he likewise de- 
clares that neither the Constitutional President of the Supreme 
Court, nor the President named by the Constitution, shall 
enter upon the functions of their office. This is the sole 
and simple object which dictated the promulgation of these 
decrees. 

If I had acted as Senors Juarez and Lerdo have acted, 
trampling under foot republican principles, outraging constitu- 
tional order, violating the solemn obligations of an oath assumed 
for the welfare of the people, I would have done better to imitate 
the coup d'etat of Commonfort, alleging as a pretext, as has ever 
been alleged, the salvation of Mexico ; for the scandal would 
have been the same, th.e lack of loyalty to the people the same, 
and the political results the same. A single difference might be 
detected ; in the coup d'etat of Commonfort there was but little 
frankness and civil valor ; in that of the 8th of November even 
these qualities were wanting, as in their stead were substituted 
words and sophisms, which, although insulting to popular intel- 
ligence, fail to deceive the people. 

I abandoned the standards of the army and the cause of the 
republic, say Senors Juarez and Lerdo — in other words, that I 
betrayed my trust. And this is set forth in a document wherein 
they betray their own — the gravest trust which could be commit- 
ted to mortal man. To extenuate their own transgressions they 
confuse me individually with another capacity, that of the person 
prescribed by law to succeed to exercise of the supreme power. 
I to abandon the standard of the army and the cause of the re- 
public ! Can it be imagined that an humble citizen, called by 
the will of the people to assume a position of the highest dignity, 
and that without intrigue and solicitation on his part, would vol- 
untarily depart from the rules of honor and decency ? Can it 
be imagined that an humble citizen, freely assuming his place 
among the ranks of the nation's defenders, disdaining the joys 
and pleasures of a peaceful hearthside, contemning the luxuries 



i 



44 

of a home and the flatteries of a social position, to struggle in 
the cause of liberty and order, would voluntarily abandon the 
principle of honor, which called him into being as a sol- 
dier? 

What man would desert the executive chair as Grovernor of a 
State? What man, already honored through the nation's voice 
with the high dignity of President of one of the supreme powers 
of the United States of Mexico, would go forth to battle against 
foreign invaders of his country, would defend the walls of a city, 
wherein he was taken prisoner while defending his flag, and at 
the last hour abandon the cause of duty aod honor? AV^hat 
man, escaping from a dungeon and liberated through honorable 
means, would offer his sword and his patrimony to the service 
of his country, would contend against intrigues and difficulties, 
would levy forces after forces to hurl against the invaders, 
wherever they appeared, and in the hour of national trial basely 
desert the army, its standard, and the cause of the republic? 
How can it be pretended that I fled, abandoning the Presidency 
of the Court, when I was travelling for the good of the country, 
with the license of and a passport from the Government ? 
When in that license and passport there had been committed to 
me no trust to fulfil, no duty imposed wherein I could make de- 
fault, was it a crime to intimate to the Grovernment that in the 
position in which I found myself I could do much, very much 
towards the salvation of your and my native land ? Was it a 
crime to reiterate, time after time, that any person was subject to 
its orders, so that my services could be rendered useful to the 
common weal, and all this without having been favored with a 
response to the epistle I sent it? 

In what did I neglect my duty as a Mexican? Wherein, 
yielding to the emergencies of my position in a foreign country, 
did I make default in any order, when leaving all projects I 
made to the satisfaction of the Government? When the Govern- 
ment received my dispatch it should have answered frankly and 
openly that the country had no need of my services abroad, and 
indicated to me the route I should take to return homeward. 
Had that been done it v/ould have been nearer the truth when it 
declared to the nation that I remained abroad 'permanently, 



45 

although neither lefore or after did I receive the least intimation that 
my presence was necessary tq:)on Mexican soil. Is not an imputa- 
tion of this natare a pure calumny ? Is it worthy the dignity of 
the Government? Will such weak inventions, to be detected by 
those unversed in political matters, satisfy an accusation in the 
eyes of a people acquainted witli the fundamental principles of 
the law ? Gan any man fail to ] erceive in the decrees and the 
circular, which attempted to divest me of the responsibility and 
functions of the President of the Gourt, and nominated another 
in my stead, a declaration that neither I nor he could succeed to 
the supreme power, as provided for in the constitution. Who 
fails to perceive, I repeat, that all these documents have a single 
object, a single aim — that of perpetuating power in the hands of 
those issuing them? If my presence was necessarj'-, as Senors 
Juarez and Lerdo would have us understand, to prevent the State 
from being without a head, why concede alicenseyo/-a?i indefinite 
period of time ; and which, from its literal interpretation, suffered 
me to traverse seas and to journey to foreign lands? If emer- 
gencies, unknoAvn at the time of granting the license, occurred 
subsequently, why was I not recalled ? It is only in frank and 
truthful actions that a loyal government can account for the trust 
committed to it by the popular will. If, as has been pretended, 
the independence of Mexico required exercise of all human 
energies ; if to its cause all other interests should have been made 
subordinate, why was denied m.e the authorization I desired, 
through which, in a foreign land, I might have proved of advan- 
tage to Mexico ? It was because it was feared that I might 
acquire influence, which did not suit the interest of others ; illy 
disguised as it is, the fact is true. 

To what other cause can this be attributed ? Was it because 
the Government had need of my services to take the head of af- 
fairs, should a vacancy occur, or was it to fulfil my judicial 
functions? It will be seen that the court had never assembled, 
for it was impossible for it to do so; it will be seen, moreover, 
that I had a license and passport to leave the seat of government 
and traverse territories and seas to a foreign countr3\ Was it 
because the Government conceived it necessary to entrust to me 
some commission of national utility ? It will be seen that I had 



46 

no employment at Chihualiua, nor when I quitted that place. 
"Was it because the Gov^ernment had not received my letter? It 
is proven that the letter was received, as well by the testimony 
of Senor Prieto as by that of numbers of other respectable citi- 
zens of Chihuahua. Was it because there was lacking in me 
aptitude, representative ability or national confidence ? Possibly 
I may have been wanting in the first and confess it ingenuously 
and in all modesty, but perchance the deficiency was not per- 
ceived when States, Governors and the people have honored 
me with evidences of their confidence in my representative 
ability. 

There can be wanting neither representative ability nor 
national confidence in a man who has been elected deputy to the 
constituent Congress of Zacatecas and the Federal Union ; to 
one who has acted officially as Minister of War ; to one who has 
been elected, by popular suffrage, Governor of one of the princi- 
pal States of the Republic ; to one upon whom has been bestowed, 
by the General Don Santos Degollado, the most ample functions 
for the military command of the States of San Luis Potosi, 
Durango, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas ; to one who, a little 
while thereafter, had been appointed General-in-Chief of the 
Federal army of the Republic, and charged with extraordinary 
powers for finance and war; to one to whom we are indebted for 
the definite triumph of Reform and legal order ; to one who has 
received, during this emergency, the military command of the 
States of San Luis, Aguascalientes Zacatecas and Tamaulipas, 
with extraordmary powers for war and finance in the three last, 
together with every branch of administration for the government 
of the former ; to one unto whom has been confided the com- 
mand-in-chief of the army of the East, and invested with the full 
authority necessary to govern the States of Puebla, Vera Cruz 
and Teaxcala ; to one to whom the popular vote has conferred 
the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Justice ; to one upon 
whom the popular voice has concentrated as among the candi- 
dates for the Presidency of the Republic ? No, against a man 
who has been entrusted with all these dignities cannot be charged 
lack of representative abilit}^ or national confidence — which 
cannot rationally be expected in a stranger who holds in this 



47 

country neither position nor family, and to whom the welfare of 
Mexico is a matter of perfect indifference. 

It was during September that I prepared to leave New York 
for Mexico, when I was detained by an order for my arrest upon 
civil process, as was noted by the newspapers at the time. 

I believed that the order would have been disposed of briefly 
on account of the manifest injustice of the claim, which was 
decided afterwards as unjust according to the legislation of this 
country. I pressed the matter forward, but it was retarded by 
the intricacies of the law, exerted to my disadvantage. The hand 
of intrigue put in motion all the springs to obtain that object, 
assisted by that of treason. All concluded, finally, through the 
honesty and impartiality of the judges, who dismissed the com- 
plaint on the 3d day of November, when the order was revoked. 
The latest letters received in New York from El Paso del Norte 
intimated that the Government was to remove to the frontier 
post of Piedras Negras. Thither I proceeded, and there received 
notice that Senor Juarez had retrograded to Chihuahua, as the 
French had evacuated that city. At the same time I received 
some vague intelligence concerning the decrees and circulars of 
the 8th of November. 

AYhile in Piedras NegrasT addressed a letter to Don Andreas 
S. Yiezca, invited him to an interview, and awaited his coming 
upon this side of the river, at Eagle Pass. Senor Yiezca was a 
chivalric, honorable and intelligent man, and, I believe it useless 
to add, appointed Governor and military commander of the State 
of Coahuila by Don Benito Juarez, by virtue of the extraordi- 
nary powers conferred upon him. 

Senor Yiezca presented himself at the conference, and alluded 
to the circular and decrees I have mentioned, and desired to 
learn, in his official capacity, which he held on behalf of the 
nation, in what light I regarded the circular and decrees of the 
8th of November. I replied that for my part I did not come to 
disturb public order; that I travelled {xlone and incognito, having 
refused the forces tendered me by my friends, as well as the use 
of orders and recommendations from most distinguished persons 
in the United States, who had offered me an escort while upon 
American territory ; that I desired Mexico to regard an exhibi- 



48 

tion of this nature as a testimony of its political advancement in 
the republican sj^stem ; that I would present myself with no other 
forces than my own support; without other title than that given 
by the law ; and trusted that Senor Juarez would deliver over 
to me the supreme power, for no other reasons than those assigned 
by the provisions imposed upon him by that same law. 

To the honor of Mexico be it said that it had already witnessed 
a spectacle of this character when a victorious army, flushed with 
success, called Don Benito Juarez, President of the Supreme 
Court of Justice, to the presidential chair, which he acquired 
through no other title than that given him by the law, the same 
as the Republic confers upon other citizens. Senor Viezca stated 
to me that he had no desire to enter upon an official conference, 
neither would he touch upon the question of legality ; he would 
only say to me that he had received an order, decree, or circular, 
to warrant my arrest, which had, as he said, been issued by the 
Government of Don Benito Juarez within appropriate time — 
that is to say, during the month of November; — that he was 
disposed to obey the summons and to make the arrest. His secre- 
tary added, " Not only to make the arrest hut to cause me to be shoty 

I replied to Senor Viezca that it was necessary to terminate, 
in a decorous and dignified manner, a question so deeply affect- 
ing the interest of Mexico ; that it was requisite that he should 
allow me to pass through the State he governed, thence to travel 
to Chihuahua, with the aim of seeking an interview with Benito 
Juarez, so that I might demonstrate to him by word of mouth 
the evils which he would cause the nation should he persist in 
the course he had taken, or whether he could not remedy the 
error he had committed, I told him, finally, that if he would 
assume the responsibility of the step I indicated, I would cross 
the river and place myself within the State of Coahuila, and 
not upon foreign territory, where he would be at liberty to arrest 
me, dispose of my person, or take me prisoner to Chihuahua, so 
that I might demonstrate to the nation that I comprehended my 
duty and would comply with it. 

Senor Viezca refused to accede to my proposition, but indica- 
ted to me that I might pass through Chihuahua by the plains of 
Texas. 



49 

In fact there had been issued an order, decree, or circular by 
'the Government, the exact form of which had escaped me, but 
whose contents I remember, authorizing the arrest of those so- 
journing in a foreign land without special leave from the Grovern- 
ment, and those loJw ivere living abroad by leave from said govern- 
ment given to traverse the foreign territories. This order, decree, or 
circular had for its object my person, and, although unjust, it was 
legal on a certain point, for the convenience of the Government 
de facto^ but at the same time general. A multitude of leaders 
and officials had previously abandoned the Government in Chi- 
huahua after rendering long services, without resources, but with 
hearts filled with faith, at the advance of the French troops to- 
wards that city, which they deserted to go across foreign 
territory, and thence to return to the country to continue the 
struggle for independence. Others had suffered privations on 
the frontiers of Mexico, after fighting with bravery ; others 
again went involuntarily into foreign countries, either to cure 
their wounds or to gather fresh strength to continue in the 
struggle for our liberty. 

With ample concurrence of the Government, many of the 
most influential men of the country had gone to foreign territo- 
ries ; notably. General Don Placido Yega, who held a commission, 
I believe ; General Don Pedro Ogazon, General Don Manuel 
Doblado, General Don Felipe B. Berriozabal, who extorted a 
passport to reside in a foreign country, and many others of more 
or less influence, some with passports and others expelled, or 
forced out by the Government. A geuQral, who had lost his 
army, raised by his individual efforts, and could have raised 
more, had he not been beneath ban of the Government, 
did not declare tliat lie went forth to engross the files of treason, 
neither was he exiled to a foreign land, but forced thither by 
more efficacious means. In place of giving him troops, for the 
Government had none, or the means of raising and organizing 
them, it placed him in a humiliating and undignified position, to 
which the Government contributed from its seat, successfully 
erected in city after city. This conduct resulted in weak men, 
without restraint upon their passions, augmenting the catalogue 
of traitors, both as military men and politicians, while others of 

7 



50 

the refagees went fortli into foreign lands, protesting to the 
thinking world against the invaders of their country, and 
against the Government, whose imbecility rendered it responsible 
for these shameful disorders. 

I had frequently spoken to Senor Juarez as to the bad impres- 
sion caused by this exode of influential persons, and prayed him 
to put a stop to it in the most determined manner. At that time 
General Doblado and Colonel Eincon Gallardo, both Governors 
of the State of Guanajuato, quitted Monterey. But he did not 
decree at that time against the evil, as he has now done, when 
his object is to entrap my person. 

Placing my hand upon my heart I have inscribed this mani- 
festo, and have asked myself many times has it not been done 
for the best interests of Mexico, my place of nativity, the 
receptacle of the ashes of my forefathers, wherein is preserved 
all I hold most dear and sacred, memory of my past and present, 
and are not my conclusions justifiable ? My conscience answers 
in the affirmative. I have defended the Government of Juarez 
with the loyalty of a gentleman, with my sword and my voice, 
for six or seven years ; I have sanctioned it with my signature ; 
I reverenced it as that of my native land, while loyally support- 
ing the standard of the law, the palladium of public rights ; but I 
do not honor those who make a burlesque of their fellow citizens, 
who break through the obligations of their oaths, who betray 
the law, be they called either Commonfort or Juarez. I neither 
honor, nor will I ever honor those who dishonor my country, 
who have made it a scoff to the world, asserting through exarriple 
that Mexico has no laws which cannot be trampled dov/n at the 
will of a mandarin, although at this very time Mexico is deluged 
with the blood of her children, in defence of the banner of law 
and order. 

I have been one of the chieftains of the people. I have raised 
thousands of men to go forth and battle for the principle of legal 
order against one of the most powerful nations of the earth ; I 
have seen the blood of my countrymen wet the soil of their 
birth, I have seen the resting places of the dead desecrated, our 
towns and cities pillaged and burned, and all this in defence of 



51 

that principle. I have, therefore, a double duty which my con- 
science dictates, in view of these numerous and sanguinary 
sacrifices. 

I have not heaped upon the Government useless or unnecessary 
charges, dictated by a personal sentiment. The public is my 
judge, before whom my writings will be exposed, when the heat 
of anger and passion has passed away. I have defended law and 
order because it was my duty ; if others have been remiss in 
their duty, it has been no crime of mine to remain silent. I have 
defended my person, not as an individual, but as an officer 
charged by the public will with the salvation of a principle. I 
have retraced at length the errors committed by the Government 
and for its personal motives, but not until that Government has 
consummated an official act which tends to destroy the law in the 
place of preserving it. I have protested against this act, that the 
people shall learn the errors of past and present Government, so 
as to draw their conclusions from experience gained by the nation 
during a brief yet melancholy apprenticeship. 

I have no desire to tarnish the glory of my country. Glory, 
indeed, belongs to a nation who has maintained a four years 
struggle with a powerful enemy, who has used every endeavor 
to divide its defenders and maintain a ceaseless combat. Glory, 
indeed, belongs to a nation, not one of whose states, towns or 
cities have given adherence to intervention unless beneath pres- 
ence of foreign bayonets. Glory, indeed, to a nation who has 
preserved its cities, ever open to the access of the authorities, 
even if they do not come at the cannon's mouth, but in the name 
of the law. Glory to a nation, who, having lost its army, with- 
out moneys, stores or material, improvises bands after bands to 
rally around the standard of independence — of heroes, born with 
the emergency, springing from the bosom of the people and 
willing to lay down their lives in a martyrdom for liberty. 

Neither have I tarnished the glory of Senor Juarez, who has 
himself destroyed it, and with it his previous good fame. His 
glory was that of a Governor, who should have placed himself at 
the head of his legions to show to his fellow citizen, by his own 
example, how to defend the independence of the country or 
perish in the attempt. 



52 

But he exercised no judiciousness in the selection of persons, 
for we have seen generals in a foreign land, who had served 
loyally and patriotically, remain without their services being ren- 
dered useful to the country, as well as those who had filled high 
official positions. We have seen governors, who had faithfully 
performed the functions of their office, superseded by others of 
his creation ; moreover, we have seen generals, ministers and gov- 
ernors named by him, deserting to the cause of treason. The 
glory of Benito Juarez was derived from the democracj^, which 
ever progresses with reform and liberty, from that government of 
the people which takes the law as its guarantee. 

If then Senor Juarez has tarnished his own glory by following 
in the footsteps of men traveling on the wrong road before him, 
I am not the only Mexican who has involuntarily obeyed the in- 
stinct of duty and narrated that which the Government has done 
by its own acts. Nevertheless, the glory of Mexico remains 
immaculate, for it cannot be stained by the errors of a man, nor 
decried by the intrigues of others. 

Mexicans, I believe that I have fulfilled the obligations I con- 
tracted with 3^ou. I believe I have done so during this solemn 
trial of the countrj^, when prudence should dictate conciliation 
with those remedies required to rectify infraction of the law. 

Fellow citizens, believe me, I speak from my heart. If the 
salvation of our common country demands as a sacrifice on my 
part that I shall never again tread the blooming turf of my 
native land, nor breathe the balmy air of its sunny clime, and no 
longer defend in your midst our nation's banner, cheerfully will 
I submit to the sacrifice, and seek a death spot in some foreign 
land. But if, on the contrary, you believe that the cause of law 
and order has need of my presence as a rallying point, if you 
believe that my coming to Mexico will dissipate the evil conse- 
quences inflicted upon it by the Grovernment, I am yours through 
the convictions of honor and duty. Act with circumspection, 
and whatever you do, let it be to reclaim the honor of Mexico? 
and you will work out its salvation. 

JESUS G. OETEGA. 

San Antonio de Bexae, December 26th, 1865. 



DOCUMENTS 



RELATIVE TO THE 



^rJ (Mfi 



§$nf i§M 0f littiti 



EX-PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO. 



55 



A WORD TO THE MEXICAN PFJDPLE. 

I publisli the accompanying documents, believing them neces- 
sary to the end I contemplate. 

With me it is an established principle never to depart from 
the pathway my conscience and sense of honor dictates, 
no matter what adverse influences may be brought to bear 
upon me. 

I make this statement, actuated by no egotistical motives, but 
simply because I conceive that my native land, in the hour of 
her calamity, demands, and should receive, an explanation as to 
my future line of conduct. Silence under such circumstances 
would reveal a cowardly disposition, and, consequently, I feel 
myself compelled to give an exposition of my motives, even 
though I may incur the risk of reiterating statements to which I 
have alluded in a previous manifesto. 

I assure you that my course is shaped to compass no ignoble 
ends, neither will I permit personal considerations to intervene 
in the discharge of my duty, for I shall suppress nothing which 
does not taint our national honor. 

A few months since I said to Senor Yiezca, while upon the 
frontiers of the United States : " I do not come with a ridiculous 
design of overturning established order ; I have arrived, solitary 
and unrecognized, after having refused the physical force tendered 
me by my friends, so that I shall not be regarded as an element 
of disturbance. Should you yourself proffer me the strength 
of your State and your own influence to establish a government, 
I should decline the offer. My only object, at the present 
moment, is to visit Senor Juarez, to avert, if possible, the evils 
which he would inflict upon the country, and to inquire of you 
your opinion as to his conduct." 

The man who acts in this wise takes as his guide the good of 
his country ; moreover, I give way to none, asking whether or 
not they would recognize a Government of my establishing. 

A most easy task would it have been for me to create a new 



56 

Government in Mexico, possessed of more or less strength than 
that possessed by the one of Juarez. I say an easy task, inas- 
much as Mexico is a nation faithful to and conscious of her rights, 
and I hold a legal title and a well defined authority, derived 
directly from the Mexican people, which Senor Juarez does not. 
I have governed msir\y of the interior States of the Eepublic, 
commanded national armies, and my political influence has 
bestowed upon me the confidence of the people. Moreover, 
during my residence at San Antonio de Bexar, I have been per- 
sonally visited by many leaders, among them generals of well 
earned repute, soliciting my return to the Eepublic to operate as 
a centre of legitimacy, and the salvation of our independence. 
I have, furthermore, received letters from ofl&cers, commanding 
armies in the field, actuated only to secure the safety of our 
principles, inviting my return to the Eepublic, which documents 
I do not employ as they were of a confidential nature. 

The task was, furthermore, easy, inasmuch as I had witnessed 
the reprobation following this violation of the law by Senor 
Juarez, not alone from persons occupying high positions in Chi- 
huahua — which State was the of&cial residence of that gentle- 
man — but from the members of the legislature of that same 
State, as I have ample evidence to demonstrate, did it not involve 
a breach of confidence in giving private letters to the light. One 
of the members of that legislature, of the highest social and 
political standing, came to me as a commissioner, after a travel of 
a hundred leagues, for the express purpose of invoking my 
return, as soon as it became apparent that Senor Juarez designed 
trampling upon the rights of the Eepublic. That representative 
stated to me that the State of Chihuahua would not acquiesce in 
the usurpation of Senor Juarez, but would, on the contrary, 
repudiate all his acts, which, I believe, it has done. 

And the task was easy, as a final reason, because the late Pre- 
sident destroyed the sole means whence he derived popular 
prestige, and, if he lingers in political existence, within a corner 
of the national territory, it is that he is tolerated from exceptional 
motives, to which I need not now allude. 

However easy to me would have been the establishment of a 
government, it was not such an easy task to convince myself as 



57 

to the necessity of assuming a prominent part in a drama, repre- 
senting the Government with conflicting executives, and, at the 
same time, contending with a foreign power, even though one, 
having no excuse in lack of national virtue, arrogated to itself, 
amid the darkness of the pending struggle, powers which had 
originally been conferred by the people. Yet, had I believed 
the honor of Mexico, and the honor of Mexico alone demanded 
my temporary abstainence from establishment of a legitimate 
government, in the hope either that Senor Juarez would restore 
to the nation that which he had unlawfully appropriated to him- 
self, or that the nation would arouse to a sense of injured dignity 
I likewise believed that the majesty of Mexico should have re- 
buked the scandalous acts of Senor Benito Juarez, as it has 
already done in similar cases. Let him be rebuked, inasmuch as 
the establishment of a legitimate government, by him overridden, 
has cost the nation more than half a century of blood-stained 
conflicts. Let him be rebuked for having vitiated that very 
principle for which we are sacrificing human life in a contest 
with one of the most powerful nations of the earth. Let him be 
rebuked, for were he not, the nation forfeits title to its own ex- 
istence, inasmuch as a people, permitting its laws to be dese- 
crated at the option of its ruler, can neither guarantee its own 
integrity nor hope to advance towards the standard of civiliza- 
tion enjoyed by nations jealous of their well-being. Mexico, 
however, thanks to its own endeavors, is progressing steadily in 
accordance with the spirit of the age, as will be demonstrated by 
the documents I now publish. Let the nation rebuke the treach- 
ery of this man for the sake of its own honor, even though it 
suffers a passing penalty for his transgressions — ^for a nation, 
struggling for a principle, consecrated within the hearts of its 
citizens, must inevitably resuscitate with a tenfold vigor. Not 
so with a people who succumb at the dictation of a man usurp- 
ing authority, through the vacillations of its sons, to his own and 
individual aggrandizement, for that people stand for all ages dis- 
graced in the eyes of God and man. 

Mexico will, doubtlessly, preserve her independence, preserve 
her principles, preserve her honor. Should the caprices of 
fortune render the salvation of her independence an impossi- 

8 



58 

bilitj, her lionor may be saved at all hazards, for all the strength 
of the world is impotent to destroy the honor of a people who, 
like the Mexican nation, has struggled around a flag whose 
tattered folds will bear to the end the inscription of a solitary 
cardinal principle. Triumphant it will shine in effulgent glory ; 
down-trodden, it will carry to remote ages the noblest title to 
heroic martyrdom. 

It may be insinuated, as some have already done, that if 
Juarez has acted illegally, an admission of the fact would dis- 
honor him and thereby inflict injury upon the nation. 

"Will my silence, or the silence of six or eight other men, pro- 
pitiate a nation, ^vhose privileges and laws have been trampled 
under foot by the individual to whose custody they have been 
entrusted ? Can a silence of this nature confer prestige upon 
a man violating his oath and reprobating his duties? Can it 
prejudice a nation to protest energetically against wrong perpe- 
trated in its name? Has it prejudiced Mexico in the eyes of the 
world to have protested against the creation of a throne upon 
the land of Hidalgo, and to have proclaimed that the rights of 
Mexico have been assailed through the usurpation of a foreign 
armed force ? Does the sentiment of Mexico and the world 
depend upon expression of our judgment ? Will our silence 
alter the nature of political acts, rendering bad good and good 
bad? 

The reputation of a public functionary depends neither upon 
the silence nor the expression of any one citizen, but upon the 
unequivocal and impartial judgment of society, when popular 
sentiment canonizes, so to speak, the right and legal procedure 
of that functionary. JSTone can be ignorant of the fact that when 
the trials of a nation are at their highest pitch, it is far more 
noble and honorable to exhibit herself worthy of herself, con- 
demning all acts that she would have discountenanced, when in 
the plenitude of majesty and power, or against the dignity and 
spirit of the law. The heroism of a country, like unto that of a 
man, is rarely evoked unless beneath bitter trials, imposed upon 
it through emergent circumstances. 

I herewith publish the correspondence between Senors Juarez 
and Prieto, relative to the letter addressed by me to the former, 



69 

through, the medium of this latter, respecting tender of my ser- 
vices to the Grovernment, while outside of the territorial limits 
to which I have alluded in my manifesto. To demonstrate the 
accuracy of my statements in this latter document, it would 
sufiice the public to know that the epistle had been received by 
the Government, This is not only shown by the correspond 
dence, but the additional fact that it was received in May or June^ 
and according to Senor Juarez's authority, was not responded to 
until September, thereby proving that reply to a communica- 
tion of vital importance was intentionally delayed for several 
months. Moreover, I was assured that that which I requested 
should receive the requisite authorization, without any intention 
on the part of the Government so to do, and that, while I was 
awaiting this authorization, I should remain outside of Mexico? 
in order that Senor Juarez might publish, in a decree, that I had 
abandoned the Presidency of the Court, dwelling permanently 
in a foreign land, without license, and / had not even informed 
the Government as to luhen I iatended returning within the Re- 
public. I have already stated that I never received an answer 
from Senor Juarez. 

(Signed), JESUS G. OETEGA. 



60 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL PEESIDENT OF THE SU- 
PEEME COUKT OF JUSTICE OF THE EEPUBLIC 
OF MEXICO. 

CIRCULAR. 

I herewitli send you a copy of the protest and manifesto 
which I have deemed it incumbent upon me to make public, in 
regard to the coup cVetat perpetrated by Senors Benito Juarez 
and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada. 

National, as well as State legislation having been necessarily 
suspended during continuance of hostilities, nothing remains to 
direct the administration of public affairs save those high func- 
tionaries elevated to power through the votes of the people. It 
is for this reason that I address myself to you, inquiring as to 
the course of conduct you have adopted with respect to this 
outrage upon legal order, and whether you repudiate or endorse 
the act. 

The nation preserves an inherent right at all times, and 
especially during hours of trial and anguish, to demand from 
public officials the expression of their opinion as to matters 
touching the common weal. This right conceded, I conceive it 
to be obligatory upon me, as President of the Supreme Court, to 
collate all available information upon that head. Did I not do 
so, I would regard myself amiss in the discharge of the sacred 
duties imposed upon my position, and most particularly so when 
we contemplate the circumstances at the present moment affect- 
ing the country. 

If I, in this instance, avail myself of my title as President of 
the Supreme Court, and not of that of President of the Eepub- 
lic, to which position I possess a perfectly legal right under the 
Constitution, it is because I do not deem it expedient, while the 
national independence is in jeopardy, to elevate contradictory 
standards, even though the one be emblazoned with the motto, 
"Order," and the other with "Abuse of Power," and treason 
against organic law. Yet my forbearance does not necessitate 
the Eepublic to recognize as legitimate the official acts of Benito 
Juarez after the 30th day of November last past. Considera- 



61 

tions as to the national welfare, both now and for the future, will 
ever instigate my actions ; nevertheless I will alwaj'S struggle to 
reconcile the cause of independence with the absolute salvation 
of the law. 

Do not on any account presume that this note is designed to 
solicit your opinion upon an unprofitable business, neither that I 
haye constituted myself into a judge as to your conduct. No ! 
the object of this epistle is much more noble and elevated. 
The nation is undergoing a terrible ordeal, her organic code has 
been ruthlessly violated, and that at a moment of the nation's 
crisis, struggling against a foreign invasion and battling to con- 
serve the form of government instituted by that same organic 
code, without which independence would be a nullity. The 
assumption of a solemn oath, my duties, my honor, my patriotic 
devotion to the interests of Mexico renders it obligatory upon 
me to exert my most earnest endeavors to preserve inviolate the 
Constitution and laws, whose creation has cost our nation so many 
and bitter sacrifices. At the same time a similar sense of duty 
impels me to exercise an equal devotion towards preservation 
of our national independence ; consequently I have attempted to 
effect both purposes simultaneously, rendering the one subser- 
vient to the other. It is for this reason that I have not appealed 
directly to the masses, who might manifest their disapprobation 
of the Juarez usurpation in a temptuous manner. To avoid 
tumultuous demonstrations from the populace I have addressed 
myself to the officers of the people, citizens charged with super- 
vision of popular rights, whose foundation rests upon the 
observance of the Constitution. 

During peaceful times and those of national quietude, the 
organic law lays down both the order of succession and the 
manner wherein each authority and functionary attains exercise 
of the duties entrusted to them by the people. During an 
emergent period these provisions may be departed from. Yet 
the precedent of history, in similar instances, has demonstra- 
ted that the most appropriate method of saving popular rights, 
is one wherein the opinions of the representative departments have 
been consulted. With this aim we have observed Governors and 



62 

local representatives of tlie respective States, either in accord or 
separately, protest against ignominious acts, wherever they had 
the power so to do, when such acts were found to be in conflict 
with the spirit of the law, as the exponent of the will of the 
sovereign people. 

For the reasons I have given I now address myself to you as 
a representative of the people, even although you are momenta- 
rily debarred from the exercise of your functions, so that in 
your ofl&cial capacity you may communicate to me your senti- 
ments upon this matter. Wliile so doing you may discard 
foranalities, as much for the reason that they cannot, at this 
present moment, be complied with, as from a consideration of the 
grave circumstances which encompass our common country. 

Independence. Liberty and the Constitution. 

San Antonio de Bexar, February 3d, 1866. 

(Signed), J. G-. OKTEGA. 
To the Constitutional Governor of the State of 



FROM THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 
OF DURANGO, 

To the Citizen, J. G. OiiTEaA, 

Constitutional President of the Repuhlic of Mexico : 

As a satisfactory reply to your communication of yesterday, 
enquiring as to m.y opinion of the coup cVetat of Juarez, the 
manner in which it impressed me, and my projected line of 
conduct for the future, I herewith transmit to you a copy of a 
letter which I forwarded to Senor Juarez from Presidio del 
Norte, dated December 15th, of the past year. 

Independence and Liberty. 

(Signed), J. M. PATONL 

San Antonio, February 4th, 1866. 



Pbesidio del Norte, December 15th, 1865. 
Senor Benito Juarez, 

Paso del Norte. 
My Dear Friend and Sir : — The circumstance of the French 



63 

troops being at the gates of Chihualiua at botli my arrival and 
departure from that city, the implied bad taste of manifesting 
my sentiments during the critical moments signalizing our last 
ioterview, and last by a determination not to take the initiative in 
enunciating my discontent at your coup d'etat, believing that 
task to be more properly alloted to persons of more considera- 
tion than myself, impelled me to preserve silence on that 
occasion, while at the same time my duty instigated me to indite 
a confidential epistle to you on a matter affecting national 
interests. 

It is not within my province, neither do I boast capacity 
adequate to analyze the decrees of the 8 th of November. 
Nevertheless, however masterly may be deemed the manner in 
which the law has been perverted, however applicable and 
sagacious may be the deductions drawn fcom the spirit of the 
law by your cabinet ; in everything not comprised within the 
circle you have described for your personal advantage every 
honest citizen perceives that the law has been violated, that 
there does not exist in your person title sufficient to exercise the 
functions you have usurped, and that the country is threatened 
with the danger of anarchy, when couptitutional order could and 
should have progressed in all its majesty. The grand principle, 
secured through triumph of the plan of Ayutla, was the perpet- 
ual abolition of joersons. By it popular sovereignty — the soul of 
democracy — was recognized as a practical truth, and military 
mobs condemned by the just severity of the people as illegal 
combinations, who, with more or less plausibility, and stimulated 
by ambitious leaders, subjugated a populace incapable of re- 
sistance. 

When I abandoned my peaceful employment and sacrificed 
my private fortune in furtherance of these principles, and their 
sustenance through force of arms, combating with like vigor 
through adversity and success, I was buoyed up with the trust 
that the law would be our guide, conscious as we were that it 
would be sustained by the popular vote. 

The citizen soldier can never be rendered an instrument for 
the destruction of the laws. Called into existence by the nation 



64 

he can never convert himself into a traitor to its interests, and as 
a defender of the Government he can never be induced to con- 
spire against its interests. According to my method of observa- 
tion, and viewed by my conscience, I have no doubt but thatyour 
retention of power after the 30th of November is an usurpation, 
that the naming of your successor is an assumption unknown to 
our code, and but initiated by Santa Anna during a period of 
the greatest disorder, and that this comingling of anomalies 
exposes the country to anarchy, beside depriving it of strength 
and compromising our name with foreign countries. 

I adjure and pray of you, Senor Juarez, by the lustre of your 
good fame, by the well merited position to which your virtues 
exalted you, and by the interest of our common weal, to which 
your devotion has been an earnest of hope and a source of 
pride, to retrace your steps upon the road along which you have 
started, as in your footprints it is impossible for me to follow. 

I take greater pains to communicate to you my resolution, in- 
asmuch as it should recall to mind memory of the past. You 
have ever found me at your side, unvacillating and obeying your 
every order, while you represented the law. You will remem- 
ber that I have always been one among the first to fly to your 
defence, and during moments when it happened that personal 
friends had deserted you, I was too anxious to hasten to your 
company, eager to identify my destiny Avitli that of the princi- 
ples which you have guarded heretofore with fidelity. When 
you ceased to represent principles you deserted me, so that our 
separation has not been wrought through apprehension of 
danger, or through momentary emergencies, but because I did 
not wish to appear as a traitor against laws you taught us to 
respect. 

This manifestation of opinion, which I submit with the greatest 
respect and with the best of feeling, does not in the least weaken 
my resolution to serve my country with the same loyalty I have 
ever given evidence of, neither will it prevent my union with 
those who are fighting against the invader with a determination 
to vindicate our common rights to the utmost extremity. 

Denying beforehand any intimations of disrespect, and with 
no wish of giving personal offence, on the contrary, actuated by 



65 

the sincerest well wishes for your future, I assure you in honesty 
and frankness, that my sense of loyalty compels me, without com- 
promising myself with party or person, distinctly to state that I will 
obey no orders emanating from you as the Government, but will 
continue to defend my country according to my own inspira- 
tions, co-operating with those who legitimately, indispensible 
condition according to my judgment, do so for the salvation of 
our independence. 

I do not wish to conclude without acknowledging, indepen- 
dently of my official duties, my personal gratitude for the atten- 
tions you have shown me. With sincere feelings of esteem, I 
remain, as ever, your affectionate friend and servant, 

(Signed), J. M. PATONI. 



FROM THE EX-CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNOR OF THE 
STATE OF MICHOACAN, REPUBLIC OF MEXICO— GEN- 
ERAL OF DIVISION. 
To the General of Division, J. G. Ortega, 

Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic : 
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the circular, 
dated 3d of this month, you have communicated to me, inquiring 
my opinion as to the coup d'etat perpetrated by Senors Benito 
Juarez and Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, through their decrees of 
the 8th of November of the past year. 

In response, it becomes my duty in the first place to inform 
you that my term of office, as Constitutional Governor of the 
State of Michoacan expired on the 16th of September- of last 
year; that in consequence of the war with a foreign power, I 
asked leave from the legislature to absent myself and devote 
myself to the formation of forces for the independence and tran- 
quilization of our fatherland. Being so just and necessary an 
object, the license was granted by the State Congress, and in com- 
pliance with an article in the Constitution of Michoacan, they 
appointed as my successor the citizen Deputy, Antonio Huerta, 
who, by virtue thereof, entered upon the functions of that of- 
fice> receiving at the same time, and from the same legislature, 

9 



66 

autliorization to continue in office until a new election is held, 
that is, provided I should be killed in action, or my term of of- 
fice should expire by reason of the prolongation of the war. 

Having said this much, it is with pleasure that I respond to 
the circular of February 3d, in the capacity of the former Con- 
stitutional Governor of the State of Michoacan, and as one who 
received that exalted position through popular suffrage. 

In inditing this letter I do not wish to weaken the force of the 
laws committed to my custody by the people, for I neither desire 
to maintain a position to which I am not entitled, nor usurp an 
influence not justly my own, and which only derives honor and 
respectability when endorsed by the popular vote. 

For these reasons, while enumeratiag my opinion with regard 
to the coup d'etat of Senors Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada, you will 
accept it as the sentiment of a supreme authority, who has 
been entrusted with the governorship of an important State, and 
as an expression of opinion from the only Governor elected by 
the popular voice who could speak in its behalf. 

The State of Michoacan regards with deep bitterness the coup 
d'etat perpetrated at El Paso del Norte, as antagonistic to the 
principles of the State Constitution, and bedimming the tradi- 
tional respect with which the laws have ever been regarded by 
the citizens of that State. I am intimate with the sentiments of 
my fellow citizens, and well know their obedience to the legiti- 
mate authority, inasmuch as I am a native of that State, and have 
had the honor of being at the head of its alEfairs for eight years, 
during which period the rule of constitutional order was never 
once disturbed. On the contrary, the sons of Michoacan, enthu- 
siastic admirers of law and justice, have ever presented a firm 
front against the aspirations of ambition and the intrigues of dis- 
affection. Let the foolish attempts of Commonfort attest the truth 
of this declaration. In all things, neither has Michoacan nor 
myself judged otherwise than the laws of the republic owe their 
creation to aught save the will of the people, and we believe, 
moreover, that laws once framed cannot be violated by any 
person at his own will. 

Senor Benito Juarez, who has broken through the constitu- 
tional defences of the country by a blind mis-step, and who 



67 

now unfurls a revolutionary banner with a hand pledged to sus- 
tain that of law and order, has not, neither can he have my 
assent to his decrees of the 8th of November last past. At the 
period of the never to be forgotten epoch of Ayulta, for the 
purpose of assisting in crushing out a despot, oppressing the 
Mexican masses, I marched to the battle field, not only to seek 
glory in triumphing over tyranny, but to acquire a ground plan 
whereon the people could erect a nation, so that in the pages of 
a sacred code they could read their rights and duties. 

No infraction of the laws, nor disobedience to the supreme 
power has thrown a shade upon my public life ; on the contrary, 
wherever the fundamental laws of the nation have been menaced, 
the sons of Michoacan, with myself, have ever been foremost in 
their defence. 

Benito Juarez, victim of the scandalous coup d'etat of Common- 
fort, is well aware that among the ranks of the Constitutional 
army, organized to defend the supreme authority, I have been 
always ready for the sustenance of the laws, and willing to die 
before consenting to their violation. It is in such high esteem I 
hold the cardinal principles of right, acquired through shedding 
of Mexican blood. 

The consequences of our present war are not mute witnesses of 
my devotion to the laws. A prisoner of war at Puebla, and trans- 
ported to France as such, I have never recognized any other 
cause but that of the Eepublic, oior any other authority than 
that imposed upon me by the voice of the people, and congenial 
to the fundamental code. Notwithstanding that obedience has 
natural limits, and thus, as I would consider it a crime to op- 
pose legitimate authority, I would regard it a still greater crime 
to obey one who usurps illegally the sovereign power. 

Benito Juarez has finished his career, for nothing, according 
to my conception, can authorize his perpetuation in authority ; 
neither can he exclude the person to whom the law gives the 
succession in a determinate manner. Consequently, Senor Juarez 
is but a private individual; and the Presidency of the Republic 
has reverted to the Constitutional President of the Supreme 
Court of Justice, who is the only man entitled to direct the 
destinies of the country. Therefore, as the last Constitutional 



68 

Governor of tlie State of Michoacan, or, as general of division in 
the army, you will please accept my opinion, whicli I have set 
forth in reply to your circular, appealing to those placed by the 
will of the people to watch, through all time, over the national 
rights within their respective jurisdictions. 

PJease accept the expression of my high esteem. Independence, 
Liberty and the Constitution. 

(Signed), E. HUERTA. 

New York, February 26th, 1866. 



Constitutional Presidency of the Supreme Court \ 
of the Mexican Republic : ) 

To GUILLERMO PrIETO, 

Postmaster General of the Mexican Republic. 

I herewith send you a copy of the Protest and Manifesto, which 
I caused to be published in this city, respecting the coup d'etat, 
pepetrated by Benito Juarez on the 8th day of November of 
last year. I sent through you from New York to Senor Juarez 
the document alluded to. As it was not of a private character, 
but relative to public and national affairs, I trust that you will 
supply me with all details in reference to its reception, accom- 
panying the information with any document you may possess. 

Clothed as you are with an official position, I hope that you 
will likewise favor me with your views as to the act of Senor 
Juarez, of which I have made mention, and as to that which 
you have done either in approving or condemning the same. 

The nation has a right at all times, and more especially during 
its hours of trial, to learn the conduct of public officers. 

A s for myself, and placed in the position of President of the 
Court through popular suffrage, I believe myself compelled to 
gather such information, so as to comply with the obligations 
imposed upon me by my duty, and the circumstances of the 
national situation. 

Independence, Liberty and the Constitution. 

(Signed), J. G. ORTEGA. 

San Antonio de Bexar, February 3d, 1866. 



69 

il 
Mexican Repiiblk. 



Office of the Postmaster General of the) 



To General J. G. Ortega, 

Constitutional President of the Republic of Mexico. 

The misfortune of suffering in my eyesight deprives me of the 
pleasure of answering your official note autographically, and as 
extensively as I would wish, consequently I am obliged to send 
you copies of the documents to which you make allusion. 

The first is a copy of a letter sent to an intimate friend in 
Chihuahua, and exhibits in the amplest manner my opinion with 
respect to the coup d^etat, free from all other motives than those 
of sorrow at the unexpected retention of authority by Senor 
Juarez. I have the honor of assuring you that my conduct has 
been entirely consistent with my ideas. At the time I suspected 
the incredible weakness of the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, 
I demonstrated to him personally, and in the most earnest manner, 
the consequences of his design. I made public my disapproval 
of the scheme, and to avoid scandal, sent in my resignation, 
which was not accepted ; while, in my discourseof September 16th, 
I alluded to the advantages Senor Juarez would obtain by swerv- 
ing from the path of usurpation. I caused my name to be 
stricken from the head of the official newspaper when publica- 
tion of the decrees of the coup d'etat were made. I had pub- 
lished that paper gratuitously for two years. Finally, crossing 
the desert, I retired to a foreign country, separating myself from 
a class of persons attempting to impose upon the nation as law 
scholastic cunning, which the people will have the good sense, 
doubtlessly, never to accept. 

The other documents which I forward are copies of letters 
exchanged with Senor Juarez. They will bear me out in saying 
that I placed the letter, which you entrusted to me, in the hands 
of that high functionary ; that he was aware of your being in a 
foreign country, with the intention of remaining there for a time ; 
that he never exhibited the slightest disapprobation of your con- 
duct, and, finally, that he did not answer 3'ou until the 7th of 
September, at a time when it was publicly known that the idea 
of the coup d^etat existed with the cabinet. 



70 

I believe what I have said will cover the object of 3'our note; 
as for myself, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have 
performed everything possible, consistent with my duty. 

Independence, Liberty and the Constitution, 

GUILLERMO PRIETO. 

San Antonio de Bexar, February 15th, 1866. 



Paso del Norte, October 31, 1866. 

[strictly confidential.] 

My Deab Frank : 

This will be no letter, but a panorama of the terrible shock 
which I suffer in a painful manner. You will comprehend my 
meaning by reading ,the enclosed decree, issued by Benito Juarez 
on this date — a decree, which it is, at this moment, impossible 
for me to analyze, as I feel as if I were in the midst of chaos. 
The decree, as you Avill perceive, is apparently according to the 
law, besides being solicitous for the well-being of the army, and in 
accord with the purest sentiments of patriotism. Ostensibly it 
is a measure which does not transcend the natural faculties of 
the executive, against exercise of which opposition would be 
made only from selfish motives. But a careful perusal will dis- 
close the Jesuitical mask, covering the Presidential question, so 
as to cloak, during the nation's most solemn trial, in the most 
audacious and treacherous manner, by surprise, the prologue to 
the coup cVetat. It is thrown forth as a secret poison to assassinate 
legality ; it is designed as an ingenious dagger to pierce un- 
noticed, but to leave behind an incurable wound. The allusion 
to Ortega is transparent on every line. It is he who is away in 
a foreign land, leaving with license and absent for four months. 
It cannot mean Berriozabal, for he was recalled by express 
orders, neither is it Huerta and his companions, for they are ex- 
cluded. Ortega is the party denounced, as any reasonable being 
can at a glance detect. 

This man, whom the unalterable law declares to be Presi- 
dent of the Republic ; this man, whose title was confirmed in a 
solemn manner by the Government but a short year since, when 



71 

public opinion accused Mni of being ambitious, wbetlier with 
reason or not we cannot say, as memory of his defeat at Majoma 
remains fresh, as accusations from which he was absolved by Oo- 
vernmeni, are still being fanned by hate and malice ; this man, 
I say, is not judged nor condemned, but his power is torn from 
him, as one dangerous to the common weal, or unworthy his 
trust. No ! the law is spread as a trap so as to render him help- 
less ; when, thus enchained, he is wounded and robbed of his 
legitimate functions. 

Do not think for a moment that I am pleading for Ortega as 
an individual. I defend him as he, at this moment stands, the 
personification of right. I neither favor him nor dread him, nor 
have I evidence to show him preferable to Juarez, but in all 
justice I regard him as an exponent of the law, whom they desire 
to override with a cowardly intrigue, concocted in secresy and 
out of the popular sight. The decree is a confusion of ideas, 
which renders its unraveling difficult. The Presidential ques- 
tion is a simple one ; the Constitution places a definite and posi- 
tive term to the Presidential office, so that a usurpation is impos- 
sible. It expresses that, no matter ivhat may happeyi, the Presi- 
dent of the Court shall be the substitute for the President, when 
the term of office of this last expires, and no election is held for 
his successor. The subterfuge of declaiming the incumbents to 
remain in office until a new election is not expressly set forth 
but implied, in my estimation. First^ because this case is like 
all other?, and provided for in the Constitution. Secondly, be- 
cause, when the law regulating elections was adopted, the con- 
trary was held ; and, lastly, because, in the famous answer of 
Lerdo to Ortega, Government denied the right to change the 
law. 

Ortega left the country upon leave of absence, advised the 
Government of his residence, placed his services at its option, 
wrote directly to Juarez, and still received no sign of its disap- 
probation. To all of this you are a witness. 

The previous career of Ortega in Chihuahua gave no evidence 
of irregularity or insolence ; her espected the resolutions of the 
Government ; he acquiesced in its mandates, and left to make 
himself useful. But, that nothing should be wanting in this vio- 



72 

lation of the law, it is concocted with ingenious perversion, which 
is sought to be excused by sophistry and perfidy. Was it an- 
ticipated or found inconvenient that Ortega should not come into 
power ? Then, why did they not trump up a thousand reasons 
or plausible pretexts to incapacitate him ? Was it not rumored 
that he committed an error while exercising power as Governor 
of Zacatecas, and thereby destroyed his right to the position of 
President of the Court ? Was it not reported that he should 
have been court-martialed for his conduct at Majoma ? If so, 
why did he continue vested with authority and recognized as 
successor to the Presidency ? 

We will suppose that Ortega deserves the prosecution so 
openly instituted against him. What is the power for his judg- 
ment? Has not the Constitution prescribed the method of pro- 
cedure? Is there no restriction imposed upon the faculties 
which the Government has arrogated, thrusting the future into 
the embrace of usurpation and absolutism? Why deceive the 
nation with this assumption of perjury and falsehood? Is it 
possible that the presence of a foreign enemy renders us blind 
to the theft perpetrated upon the national laws, upon the most 
precious of conquered rights? Is not all this formality and 
falsification the proper weapons of usurpers ? 

Juarez has heretofore been my idol, both on account of his 
virtues and his having been chosen by the law, for his standard 
was our glory and our rights, and were we to fail, we must suc- 
cumb in the defence of the law. What remains of our political 
edifice? Whom shall we respect? Does it make any differ- 
ence whether the usurper be named Santa Anna or Commonfort, 
or Ceballos, as of old, or Juarez, the suicide of to-day ? We will 
suppose that Juarez was a political necessity, and that his ad- 
ministration was immaculate. Did he derive reputation apart 
from his official position ? We will not hazard the presumption 
that a change would prove distasteful, or that our exterior rela- 
tions being paralyzed would prove the cause of anarchy. Has 
not usurpation the same or greater dangers ? What would be 
the result from the discontent of the adherents of Juarez in the 
city of Mexico, where they are very few in number ? Is, then, 
discontent comparable to the disaffection of Negrete, of Zacate- 



73 

cas, of the division of the army in the State of Sinaloa, and of 
the remainder of the Eepublic ? Yet all this occurs through 
the action adopted bj Juarez. The partisans of principle will 
not recognize Juarez in the future, for they advocate principles, 
not men. Such being the case, will it justify a deliberate rising 
in favor of Ortega ? What are our foreign relations ? Who 
will assure us that the United States will continue their sym- 
pathy after this coup d'etat^ as they always follow principles and 
not persons ? 

And what an instrument to our disadvantage will be this act 
in the hands of our enemies when knowledge of it becomes 
diffused to the world at large. 

Anarchy ! It is a word, under the circumstances, which ter- 
rifies more than it injures ; it exists already, and through it may 
be saved the national honor. 

There can be no anarchy when there is unity in thought, and 
this unity employed to put down the invasion. If Arteaga and 
Eegules, Fernando Ortega, Eiva Palacios and Eosales, and all 
the chiefs had been subjected to, or omitted our orders, what 
would have become of the country ? Anarchy is horrible when 
the ambition of different men is loosened to run riot. Then the 
struggle between the strong and the weak commences on the 
same soil. But the country without a head would have an in- 
surrection, and that this would be common will be the supreme 
good of the country. Would not the nation be convulsed to 
see the flag of the invader disappear, only to give place to 
another equally illegal and equally detested ? 

In any case, should evil befall the country, Juarez and those 
who have allured him to his ruin will stand the blame, and not 
those who follow the path of duty and honor respecting the 
public will of their country, which is expressly mentioned in 
their fundamental code. I even go further, and suppose this 
extraordinary feat of jugglery of Juarez to terminate happily. 
Is it honorable to follow him ? Is it right to acknowledge such 
a vaulting over the law ? Ought we to tolerate this act, thus 
authorizing others of a similar nature, which would very soon 
follow ? For my part I will not. 

10 



74 

I have been so candid with you so far that not even the fear 
of the Constitution's being broken stops me. Our cause is so 
grand that the glory of driving out the invaders would be un- 
fading, and this might tempt me to act against the laws. But 
no, that would be reputation for the life of the country. I have 
not done it yet. I am not frightened. 

I am frightened to contemplate Juarez as a revolutionist, inert, 
crippled, haggling, occupying himself with misrepresentations, 
or in elevating the baseness of vengeance against a certain person 
to the height of a State question. Can you imagine Juarez as a 
revolutionist ? What are the rights of this man ? What his 
strength ? Are the destinies of a country to be subverted at the 
call of a scene shifter ? Can this rushing of a country into per- 
dition be caused by cautious but deceitful night vigils and 
thought? Is it virtue to break the law ? Is it right to be the 
judge in your own case ? Is it honorable that the culprit should 
turn the tables on his judge and declare him a thief, because he 
happens to acquire a temporal power ? 

I repeat that I grope in darkness and know not where to turn. 

How obscure and treacherous is this document ; how it omits 
the name of Ortega ; what an innocent and natural air it bears. 
If we say to the Government, here, that artful idea, that order, 
is an ambush from behind which you will assassinate the legiti- 
mate possessor of what you declare to be your inheritance ? 
Then they might say, what do you deduce from ? Damn anath- 
emas on the calumniator. Shame and punishment to the sus- 
picious rogue ! 

I saw this intrigue coming and I threw up my position, because 
I had neither labor to perform nor means of livelihood. My 
renouncement of ofi&ce was not accepted, and I was retained so 
as to martyrize me, or for the purpose of having me desert my 
position in an infamous way, so that this desertion might be used 
as a gag to stop my just reproof of what I knew to be a turning 
of the truth, the abjuration of the law, the improbable transfor- 
formation of the legitimate Government into a strolling company 
of actors, who wish to enact plays after the manner of Napoleon 
the little, and oh! shame, after the style of Maximillian the 
rickety ! 



75 

Canyon imagine what I have suffered? Can you imagine 
my situation when I am the exception amongst those gentlemen ? 
I am yours, affectionately, 

(Signed), GUILLERMO PRIETO. 



Paso del Norte, October 1st, 1865. 
Benito Juarez : 

My Dear Friend and Sir : — The last two times in which I have 
seen you, you have manifested that you were displeased with me. 
This displeasure is caused doubtlessly by my having, in a 
thoughtless moment, disclosed my ideas at a public entertain- 
ment, but which I am proud to say were conformable to the law 
and the honor of the Grovernmeat. Having lost your esteem, I 
miss one of the most powerful reasons for being near your person, 
as well as the small recompense of eight years of public service, 
in all of which time I have given patent proofs of my loyalty to 
the cause, and of affection to you, personally. Misrepresentation 
is a degradation, and I have remained here so as not to degrade 
myself. I beg of you as a special favor that you give an order, 
causing the labors of the administration of post offices to cease, 
which in fact are useless, for I neither have anything to do in 
that respect, nor have I any salary, and this order will rid you 
of me, and rid me from being the victim of penury. 
I am as ever, your servant and friend, 

(Signed), GUILLERMO PRIETO. 



Paso del Norte, Odohr 1st, 1865. 

GUILLERMO PrIETO: 

My Dear Friend : — I answer your letter of to-day, by saying 
that I cannot give the order to stop the administration of post 
offices, as you wish, because that would be equivalent to the Gov- 
ernment commencing the destruction of public administration. 
Let the enemy destroy it if they have the power, and such 
should be the deStiny of my country, but I shall neither do it 
nor allow it to be done so long as I am able to prevent it. If 



76 

you have been wanting in circumspection in the matter of which 
you speak I can say nothing, as you have a faithful and sincere 
friend, which can satisfy you by approving or disapproving your 
conduct ; that friend is your own conscience, to which I appeal 
without having the necessity of verbal explanations in this 
matter, or any other particulars which you may not wish to in- 
form me of, or I may wish to ask of you. 

Before closing this letter I ask of you a favor, which is, that 
you bring to your memory that I never have said to you nor 
authorized you to say to Gen. Gonzales Ortega, in my name, 
that he could remain indefinitely away from his country. It has 
never been my pleasure to tell any one to do anything but what 
he liked best. Neither have I authorized any one to pursue the 
road of dishonor. 

I am as always, your true friend, 
(Signed), BENITO JUAEEZ. 



Paso del Norte, October 1st, 1865. 
Benito Juarez : 

My Esteemed Eriend and Sir: — I did not wish for an 
order to destroy the administration of post ofiices, but that the 
labors of it should cease, which in fact is the case. I have ap- 
pealed to my conscience, and that is not only satisfied but proud. 
I have never written one single syllable to Gen. Ortega, neither as 
coming from myself or 3^ourself, in regard to your feelings about 
his indefinite permanency away from his country. Once, in a 
private conversation between Yglesias (Minister of Hacienda 
and Gobernacion, in the Juarez cabinet) and myself, I said to him 
that Ortega had written to you through me, in which letter he 
expressed a wish to labor for our country in the United States, 
and asking your approbation. In answer to which letter you 
told me that you had said to him to act in conjunction with 
Romero (Mexican Minister to the U. S). I added in that conver- 
sation that, taking this reply as a guide, you were not averse to 
his remaining away from his country. This answer covers the 
grounds of your letter to me, which ought neither to offend you 
nor suspect your future intentions, and gives you proof of my 



77 

proceedings. Any way, if you can in any manner so fix it as 
to enable me to separate myself from my position, so that it will 
not appear as if I had been expelled, but only as a matter of 
delicacy on my part, I shall be very much obliged if you will 
inform me as to the manner. 

Eespect fully, your obedient serv't, 

(Signed), GUILLERMO PRIETO. 



Paso del Norte, October 1st, 1865. 

GuiLLERMO Prieto : 

My Esteemed Friend :— I am sure that I could never have 
told you that I would have answered Ortega by telling him to 
act in concert with Romero. I recollect having answered 
Ortega on the 7th day of September last, simply telling him that 
he could not receive the authority which he asked for, and this 
is the first time that I have ever told any one what I had written 
to your constituent (Ortega). I am very happy to know that 
you have so clear and proud a conscience, for that b eing the case^ 

you will live tranquilly. 

I cannot grant your prayer in regard to the ceasing of the 
labors of the general administration of post offices, because I 
have not the wish to assist the invaders of Mexico in 
discrediting the administration of my country. I cannot tell 
you either to leave your ofiice, because I have neither a motive 
to tell you so nor does the Government repel you, nor are you 
a stumbling block in the way. 

I am your affectionate friend, 
(Signed), BENITO JUAREZ. 



Paso del Norte, October 2d, 1865. 
Benito Juarez: 

My Esteemed Friend and Sir : — When I, in May or June 
last, placed a letter from Mr. Ortega into your hands, I am sure 
that you then said to me that you were going to answer Ortega 
to the effect that he should act in concert with Romero. If you 
did or did not do it, I cannot say, neither do I know what you 
said to him in your letter of last month. The former idea, that 



78 

is to saj, that of May or June, I communicated to Mr. Yglesias 
then, and this is a proof to me that I am not mistaken. 

I do not think that there would have been dishonor in sus- 
pending the labors of the general administration of post offices, 
nor with my ceasing to operate would the invaders have been 
assisted, for by the same reasoning is it not ridiculous to believe 
that the ceasing of the administration of sealed paper, public 
lotteries, and Custom Houses, have also assisted the invasion ? 
I proposed that I should be considered as having resigned, for 
the reason that the public should not know that there could be 
a cause of difference between you and myself. To stop all fur- 
ther doubts, and to close a correspondence which occupies your 
attention, I herewith send my resignation, which I hope, as a 
great and only favor, may be at once attended to. 
I am, your affectionate servant, 
(Signed), GUILLERMO PRIETO. 



[COPy OF RESIGNATION]. 

Office of General Administration of P. O. — There being 
no duties to perform in the general administration of post offices, 
and my presence in this place being of no consequence to my 
cause — on the contrary, a source of unpleasant feelings — I beg of 
you to entreat the President to grant me leave to reside wherever 
I may see fit, and if this should seem impossible, to admit the 
formal resignation which I make of the office of general admin- 
istrator of post offices. 

Paso del Norte, October 2c?, 1865. 

(Signed) GUILLERMO PRIETO. 

To the Minister of State. 



Paso del I^orte, October 2d, 1866. 
Guillermo Prieto: 

My Esteemed Friend : — I perfectly well recollect that I did 
not tell you what I was going to answer Ortega when you 
brought me his letter. I said that I would answer him in a cour- 
teous and polite manner, and nothing more. 



79 

I will present your resignation to the proper parties, and in 
due time will communicate to you their resolution. 
Your affectionate friend, 

(Signed,) BENITO JUAREZ. 



Republican Army of Mexico, > 
Office of Brigadier General. ) 

Notwithstanding the several supreme decrees which would 
have justified me at different times to have separated myself 
from the Mexican Government, yet their indisputable title to 
■-legality made me remain at the side of Mr. Juarez, where I 
would now be were it not for the decrees of the eighth of No- 
vember, which I consider as an attempt against constitutional 
order. 

When General Commonfort, colleaguing with a portion of the 
army, shielding himself behind the memory of glorious deeds, 
and flattered by parties interested, gave his coup d'etat^ I, in my 
humble position, withdrew from the armed mob, and did not 
vacillate an instant in giving my support to him who was Pre- 
sident of the Supreme Court of Justice, and who shortly entered 
into the exercise of the Presidential power. In the struggle for 
Reform, I had the honor to be one of the number who com- 
posed the army that, victorious in the capital, were the first to 
aggrandize the head of the Government, so that in his aggran- 
dizement might be seen the triumph of the law. During the 
present war, the more adverse to our cause was fortune the more 
inseparable have I been to the Government, and Mr. Juarez 
will bear me witness, that on treading the confines of the Re- 
public, when it appeared that we touched the limits of our terri- 
tory and our hopes at the same time, I was one of the few who 
carried that far their faith, and respect for the Government which 
still upheld the tattered but glorious banner of the nation. 

The decrees of the 8th of November changed the face of 
affairs, and threw the country back to the times when an obscure 
plot displaced the will of the nation, and when reason, which is 



80 

the law, ceded its place to arbitrariness, whicli is nothing but a 
manifestation of tyranny. I found myself more than any one 
else obliged to separate myself from the so called Government, 
because to a soldier there was not even the excuse that power 
was retained so as to continue the struggle, for the same cowp 
d'etat only asked from the people their indifference in exchange 
for the Government's inaction. 

I have arrived here, after extreme difficulty, so that you who 
have the legitimate title to, and imperious duty of saving the in- 
dependence and laws of the country, might see me at your side 
in the station and manner which you may see fit, when you 
head the ranks of the defenders of Independence. 

Having made this declaration I comply with the duties which 
honor imposes on me ; and if, through any motive which I be- 
forehand respect, you should not find it convenient to present 
yourself within the Eepublic, I will go and join any soldiers 
who carry our flag as their symbol, without having lost for one 
moment faith in the holiness of our cause through your absence ; 
and thus I shall not be in the sad condition of him who tram- 
ples the laws and honor of his country under foot to save our 
Independence, nor of him who compounds with the transgres- 
sions of Mr. Juarez. 

My acts will, at any rate, serve to explain my opinions, and 
be a proof that I neither received nor complied with the watch- 
word to break, by force of arms, the rights of the nation. 

Liberty and Reform. 

San Antonio de Bexar, Feb. 6, 1866. 

(Signed,) FERNANDO POUSEL. 

To Gen. Jesus G. Ortega, 

Constitutional President of the Republic of Mexico. 



Aemy of the Mexican Republic, ) 
Office of a Brigadier General, f 

In the month of August of last year Government left the 
city of Chihuahua and went to Paso del Norte, giving the order 
to the chiefs and officers who were attached to and followed it, 



81 ' 

that tliey miglit clioose a place of residence in any place not 
occupied by the enemy, and, also, that it should not be El Paso 
del Norte. In accordance with these orders, several chiefs, and 
I amongst them, took the roau to Presidio del Norte, and there, 
in unison with General Negrete, and inspired by our patriotism, 
we fortunately got together a few arms so as to be able to hos- 
tilize the enemy. Two months passed, during which time I be- 
came convinced that the resDurces of the State being frittered 
away, and the executive taking no initiative part, our efforts 
would be useless. I vacillated between going into the interior of 
the Republic to join some other forces, or to go to the United 
States, there to try and procure 'arms, when I had reason to 
know that Juarez was seriously plotting his perpetuation in 
power, which would, in reality, incapacitate national defence, 
and convert the army into the escort of an usurper. I entered 
the career of arms with Liberty as a godfather. I wished to 
enter into citizenship on the field of battle, because the war 
which then raged was for the liberties and regeneration of the 
masses ; and the commencement of my career and the advent of 
Juarez to power coinciding, I neither had any other name nor 
other flag to invoke, nor any other cause than that with which 
he has been identified. . '" 

His transformation into a revolutionist was his disappearance 
from legal right, and an army could only serve him for uses 
entirely personal. The evils which I then foresaw, the- senti- 
ments which, from that moment, animated me, and my acknow- 
ledgment of yourself as President of the Republic after the 30th 
of November, I made manifest to you through a commissioner 
which I sent to New York in August last, I coming to this city 
to reside, where I have, as you know, been as useful as I could 
be to the common cause of our country. This is the simple 
explanation of my conduct ; I think it fully justified, not only 
from my inward feelings of conscience, not only from the rigid 
test of the laws, whose unequivocal tenor condemns Mr. Juarez, 
not only on account of public feeling, which, as it leaks out, 
shows the bitterness felt for the painful loss of one of our glories — 
for the name of Juarez was one of our national glories — but on 
account of the overturning of the legal order, and the danger to 

11 



82 

independence, because Governments to be strong must be just, 
and usurpation carries witliin itself tlie germs of weakness and 
annihilation. I, one of the least of citizens, but in my expres- 
sion of national conscience, as great as any, have wished to pro- 
test by ray conduct against the coup d'etat of Mr. Juarez, so as to 
be witness that amongst all classes, and on behalf of all who 
love their country, there is an unanimous feeling against this 
overturning of the public right of the nation, against the crimi- 
nal attempt to divide the lawful cause of the country, and against 
the probable effect of giving cause for anarchy and fraternal 
war in the midst of our foreign invasion, and the danger even, 
if triumphant, in this horrible invasion, of receiving the terrible 
inheritance of civil war and capricious rulers. Having thus ex- 
pressed my feelings and fully convinced that you are the legiti- 
mate head of Government, I place myself at your orders, so that 
I may be employed, even if only as a common soldier, in the 
defence of national independence. 

Independence and Liberty. 

San Antonio de Bexar, Dec. 18, 1865. 

(Signed,) M. QUESADA. 

To Jesus G. OetegA, President of the Republic of Mexico. 



To Gen. Jesus G. Ortega, 

President of the Republic of Mexico : 

Sir, — I herewith send you a copy of the letter which I sent 
to Mr. Benito Juarez on the 7th of October, of last year. You 
will note the frankness with which I always express myself, and 
more than ever when my feelings are brought in contact with 
the politics of my country. 

Benito Juarez, blinded in the extreme, has just given a terrible 
blow, not -only against the Constitution and nationality of the 
Eepublic of Mexico, but against himself. I trust that he may 
yet turn his steps and arrive at a full knowledge of the gravity 
of the crime which he has committed. As in my letter I dilate 
fully upon the conduct which, in my belief, Mr. Juarez ought 
to observe, I omit repeating it here, but I wish it to be under- 



83 

stood that I protest against the decree of the 8th of November, 
1865, given bj the referred to Juarez, whom I not only consider 
as an infamous blot in a Government which is known as a Con- 
stitutional one, but as the volume in which is recorded the ex- 
propriation of the rights which belong to a people, and which 
are now entrusted bj them to the President of the Supreme 
Court of Justice. 

Independence and Liberty. 

New York, February 22, 1866. 

(Signed,) JOAQUIN VILLALOBOS. 



New York, October 7, 1865. 
BENITO Juarez : 

Sir, — The extraordinary events now transpiring in our coun- 
try is the reason why I direct myself to you, to manifest what 
my opinion of the actual state of the political horizon is, and 
what I consider as just and necessary. Do not look on this 
letter as from a philosopher, which I am not, nor as the result 
of a partiality. What I wish to say to you now is instigated by 
my love for my country, and for those Eepublican institutions 
which fortunately still rule us. Take this letter in that light 
and hear me. 

One of the great motives which has actuated France in origi- 
nating an intervention, has been the disorder and want of respect 
to the laws, in which Mexicans have always lived. Unfortu- 
nately, our reform, which originated the agony and death of the 
retrograde party, caused, necessarily, a civil war, but which, in 
Europe, was not so considered as necessary. Each party, which 
had come into existence up to the time of the Eevolution of 
Ayutla, had put forward their leaders, only to depose them in 
turn, and the conservative party, incorrigible to the last, owes 
its downfall to the villany of its acts and men. Not so the 
liberal party, which, convinced that its only guide could be law, 
pursued from the Ayutla Revolution a legal path ; and neither 
defeat nor obstacle has made it change from its original reso- 
lution. 



84 

The desertion of Mr. Alvarez, which Avas rather turbulent, 
compromised materially our situation, but, fortunately, a pacific 
arrangement quieted everytldng, and opened the path to the 
Presidency for Mr. Commonfort. This gentleman, who, unfortu- 
nately misunderstood the part he was to play, and wished to 
become the gratuitous thief of what he legally possessed, brought 
to light the famous coujp d'etat, and, in doing this, infringed the 
law and changed public opinion. 

You know perfectly well what the result was of this notorious 
act : The church party extended its arms to the chief of the 
revolution, not to embrace him, but to strangle him, and Common- 
fort, undeceived a few hours after his treason, knew that mili- 
tary force had lost its influence in the countrj-, and that nothing 
but the law held full dominion. We have here the reason why 
this apostate of Ayutla opened your prison doors, and left you 
at liberty to join the army which was waiting for you, and who 
unanimously acknowledged you as the head of Government. 
Nearly all the States lent their adhesion to you and offered to 
sustain you. 

It is undoubtedly the case, that when Commonfort violated his 
oath he left the field open for the ambitious success of many 
influential politicians, and that it was to be feared that each par- 
ticular faction, civil or military, should each take a separate and 
distinct road; however, this was not the case ; on the contrary, 
every Eepublican of any note, capable of successfully playing 
his ambitious part, constituted himself into a bulwark of the 
law, and recognized Benito Juarez as the legitimate successor to 
the Presidency of Mexico. 

It is needless to follow the course of that struggle, suffice it to 
say, that in all the defeats of our arni}^, and in all the confusion 
naturally originating from so man}- rebuffs, your authority was 
never questioned, and even when j-ou had to leave the country, 
and embark on foreign waters, and travel through foreign coun- 
tries to return, it was never disrespected or doubted. Yera 
Cruz, which was the place chosen by the Eepublican Govern- 
ment for a temporary capital, opened its doors to the supreme 
authority of the nation, it raised its A\'alls, and gave its sons for 
the defence of the law in Ben ito Juarez. The triumph of the 



85 

national cause was finally obtained, and the capital of the Ee- 
public offered a seat in its palace to the legitimate President. 

Later, and through legal steps, the election for Constitutional 
President was held. A portion of the people voted against you, 
but a majority elected you to that position, and you were recog- 
nized as President by all parties. 

From that time the opposition (to which party I belong) has 
criticised your official acts through the press, but always law- 
fully, and never have advised that you should be dispossessed 
by force of arms'^of your position. 

This, without doubt, would be sufficient to prove the respect 
rendered by Mexicans for duly elected authorities ; but God, who, 
doubtless, wished to demonstrate, in a stronger manner, our re- 
spect for the law, caused foreign intervention to be landed on 
our shores, so as to completely prove our solidity. In vain has 
Napoleon and his soldiers tried to disavow, and cause to be dis- 
avowed, the President of Mexico. The invader has overrun our 
country for three years, in every direction, and has been unable 
to overturn the lawful pedestal on which our banner rests. All 
the forces who rise to defend the Eepublic do it in the name of 
Juarez, the laws which are given forth are signed by Juarez, 
and an account of all the battles won or lost is made to Juarez, 
and the Mexican United States, who foUaw no model not fash- 
ioned by the law, acknowledge no other authority nor legitimate 
power excepting that of Juarez. It will, doubtless, be asked, if 
it is the person who accomplishes all this acknowledgment. Is 
it Benito Juarez, solely as Benito Juarez, who does all this ? 
Undoubtedly no. He may be possessed of sufficient virtues to 
command great respect, but what the Mexican United States 
and society recognize is not Benito Juarez but the legality of the 
law. 

"Well, sir, after these hasty remarks and reflections, imagine 
my surprise to learn that a few Mexicans (residing in New York, 
calling themselves your friends, and also of our nationality, 
without being one or other) say, that notwithstanding your term 
of office has expired, that you ought to continue in power, al- 
leging reasons which are far from being satisfactory. These 
persons, unwittingly, are striving to dim the glory of your term, 



86 

and would hurl us into sad confusion. No one is ignorant of 
tlie path pursued from the time of Ayutla to this date, yet it 
seems as if this interesting branch of Mexican history is not 
known by these imprudent advisers. The Republic has no other 
method of being saved except through a respect for its laws, 
and if consent was given, through a false conviction, to their 
counsels to violate legality, any one would hereafter have the 
right to rise as sovereign and rule at his pleasure. 

One of the reasons given by those who wish you to continue 
as President, is that General Gronzales Ortega will not maintain 
the rights of the nation with safetj^, and will occasion the loss of 
a country which j^ou have so worthily defended. I do not wish 
to judge of this. It may be that they are right, or they may be 
wrong, but what there is no doubt about is, that your continua- 
tion in office illegally, and the resistance to turn over the 
Government which the law demands should be turned over, 
would make you, not the President of the Republic of Mexico, 
but only a revolutionist. One great proof of the obedience of a 
people who love republican institutions to their laws, is, that 
after the death of Lincoln, Johnson, without a murmur from the 
mass.es, took his seat as President. Europe, which accused the 
Republics of being based on false systems of Government, on 
seeing this changed its tone, and loadly sang a thousand praises 
in honor of the sj^stem which it had attacked. When, finally, 
the universe has understood that it makes but little difference to 
a people, who obey their laws, who disappears, and that order is 
still maintained; when we have such glorious examples before 
us, shall we, Mexicans, be the first to defile the Republic, and 
give our more scandalous example to the world ? Which would 
be greater for Juarez— to revolutionize and anarchize his coun- 
try, or deliver up the trust which the law demands, and thus 
satisfy both the law and his conscience ? How grand a spectacle 
would it be to see on the wide desert of Mexican politics, where 
there is scarcely a green spot large enough to spread our book 
of codes, to see two men open this book, and, changing the 
leaves, take or leave power without a struggle and in perfect 
harmony. What chief of Mexico would doubt the validity of 
this act, and would not take courage to -olume his ambition in 



87 

lionorable flight. The occupation by Johnson of his elevated 
position would be no more an act worthy to be extolled as be- 
longing to the Eepublican form of Government than v/ould be 
offered by you by so just an example. Then would all the 
severe criticisms of many writers, who exaggerate and even 
misunderstand our manner of government, be tempered in their 
censures, and these scribblers no more throw dirt in our faces. 
Then would the celebrated Eichard Cobden be once more in the 
wrong, for he has declared that the Eepublic of Mexico was 
ungovernable, and that civilization would never enter its 
doors. 

Yes, Mr. Juarez, you can now be the greatest or most con- 
ten/'ptible man of our country. Your conduct can either lower 
us to the lowest depths, or elevate us to the orbits of great 
nations. Do not become responsible to future generations for 
evil consequences, nor lend a willing ear to aught but the voice 
of the law and your own conscience. Fortunately you are in 
the position to act as few others. You have borne the national 
standard nobly for three years and one half, in cities and in 
mountains, and on the same Mexican soil you can turn it over 
to your successor. If he takes it to the capital of the Eepublic, 
not on this account will your glory be dimmed, but if, unhap- 
pily, this flag should be dishonored in the hands of the new 
President, there will remain the satisfaction to you of having 
been able to fulfil what others could not do. 

Excuse my thus writing to you, and I repeat that if these 
remarks are not the best counsels I can give, they are still to the 
point. Eespectfully, 

(Signed,) JOAQUIN VILLALOBOS. 



The Mexicans who sign below, residing at this date in New 
York, on account of not wishing to recognize either the so- 
called empire of Maximillian, nor foreign intervention, and 
knowing that the legitimate base for the sustainence of demo- 
cratic principles, and of the nationality of the Mexican Eepub- 
lic of Mexico, consists in obeying blindly the fundamental com- 



88 

pact whicli binds tlie nation together, therefore, whatever Mexi- 
can spurns said fundamental compact is not worthy of consider- 
ation only as a creditor for the severest punishments. There- 
fore : 

1st. We protest against the decree of Benito Juarez, given 
on the 8th of November, 1865, wherein he declares himself 
President. 

2d. We recognize as President of the Kepublic of Mexico, 
during the time accorded to him by the law, General Jesus 
Gonzales Ortega, President of the Supreme Court, and conse- 
quently legitimate successor to Mr. Benito Juarez. 

3. A copy of this shall be sent to Citizen, Jesus Gonzales 
Ortega, to do as he likes with, and the original shall be pre- 
served for whatever may occur wherein it may be needed. 

New York, February 20, 1866. 
(Signed,) 

JUAN TONGO, 

Colonel in the Mexican Army. 
J. EIVEEA, 
JUAN N. BNEIQUEZ OEESTES. 



245 91 





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